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Home / History of the Archdiocese
Although not formally established as a diocese until March 8, 1833, Detroit's Catholic history dates back to 1701 when Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac led a group of French traders, accompanied by two priests, to the banks of the Detroit River.
There they founded Ste. Anne's, the first Catholic Church in Detroit. Ste. Anne's is still serving the community, currently in its fifth location near the Ambassador Bridge on Howard Street. Between 1701 and 1833, the Catholic Church witnessed Michigan's growth from a French trading outpost to an English colony and finally to an American territory. Father Gabriel Richard -- priest, pioneer and statesman -- is generally thought of as the founder of the diocese, although he was not its first bishop. Fr. Richard brought the first printing press to Michigan, and was co-founder of the University of Michigan. The ten-story auxiliary chancery building on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Washington Boulevard in downtown Detroit is named in his honor. His remains are entombed in a special chapel at Ste. Anne's Parish.
When the diocese was established on March 8, 1833, its territory included all of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Dakotas east of the Mississippi River. Frederic Rese was named the first bishop of the new diocese, and in the early years of his episcopacy, eleven priests served the entire area.
When Michigan became a State in 1837, the boundary of the diocese was redrawn to coincide with that of the State Peter Paul Lefevere was bishop from 1841, through the Civil War, and until 1869. He was succeeded by Bishop Caspar Borgess who remained Detroit's bishop until 1887. During the 47-year stewardships of Bishops Lefevere and Borgess, the diocese grew from 28 to 84 churches, from 12 to 60 schools, and the Catholic population increased from less than 75,000 to 116,200. During the same period, many religious communities came to serve in the expanding diocese. The Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary were the first community to establish residence in the diocese, doing so in 1845.
From 1888 until 1918, Bishop John Samuel Foley headed the diocese. He was Detroit's first American-born bishop, and his 30-year episcopacy remains the longest for the archdiocese. Immigration to Detroit during this period was very heavy, not only from Europe, but also from the American South, to meet the labor needs of the rapidly expanding automotive industry. Bishop Foley established the first black Catholic parish, St. Peter Claver, in 1911, although chapels and missions for black Catholics had existed since the late 1870s. Michael James Gallagher, Detroit's Diocesan Bishop from 1918 to 1937, lead successful fights against Michigan state constitutional amendments in 1920 and 1924 that would have required mandatory attendance in public schools for all children and would have destroyed a well established Catholic school system.
Bishop Gallagher went on to strengthen the parochial system and education by establishing standards for both teachers and textbooks, and opening a central office for direction of the educational effort. On May 22, 1937, Detroit was elevated to an Archdiocese, and four days later Edward Francis Mooney was named its Archbishop. In 1946, he was elevated to the College of Cardinals.
Beyond his activities in the new archdiocese, Cardinal Mooney held leadership positions in the National Catholic Welfare Conference, the forerunner of the present National Conference of Catholic Bishops. Cardinal Mooney died in Rome awaiting the conclave that would elect Pope John XXIII.
John Francis Dearden became Detroit's second Archbishop in December 1958 and directed the Archdiocese until he retired in 1980. As Archbishop, he attended all of the meetings of the Second Vatican Council and played a significant role in the development of the conciliar documents.
 In 1969 he was elevated to the College of Cardinals. Cardinal Dearden was the first president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He continued to reside in Detroit, and was active in national and international church affairs until his death on August 1, 1988.
Edmund Casimir Szoka was installed as the Archbishop of Detroit on May 17, 1981. He came to Detroit from Gaylord, Michigan where he had been the founding bishop of that diocese. In 1988, he was elevated to the College of Cardinals. In January of 1990, Cardinal Szoka was appointed, by His Holiness Pope John Paul II, President of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See. Cardinal Szoka left the Detroit Archdiocese in June 1990 to assume his new responsibilities in Rome. He was appointed president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City in October 1997.
Adam Joseph Maida, former Bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, was installed as Detroit's fourth Archbishop on June 12, 1990. Archbishop Maida brought to Detroit a distinguished administrative career with expertise in both civil and canon law. On November 26, 1994, Archbishop Maida was elevated to the College of Cardinals. Cardinal Maida retired on January 28, 2009.
On January 5, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI named Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron the fifth Archbishop of Detroit. Archbishop Vigneron was ordained for the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1975, was ordained an auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese in 1996. In 2003, he was named Bishop of Oakland, California, where he served until his return to Detroit.
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