Well, let's start at the very beginning.
And while that may sound very obvious and logical, going back to the very beginning is also going back to the boring part of this saga.
The very beginning goes back to the very first bishop (OK - Archbishop since Detroit is what is called a Metropolitan See which means that other dioceses within the geographical region are under the care and oversight of the bishop who heads the Metropolitan See.)
Told you that this would be the boring stuff!
The Metropolitan See of Detroit includes all the other dioceses of Michigan. That is what makes Detroit an Archdiocese and that is why Detroit has an Archbishop.
Or in more plain and practical language, when the Michigan bishops get together, the head honcho, the one who wears the largest pointy hat would be the Archbishop of Detroit.
And having, hopefully, helped you to understand some hierarchical jargon and politics, now we can dive in and start somewhere near the beginning.
And that would be with the first bishop of Detroit in my lifetime, Edward Aloysius Mooney.
He became the Archbishop of Detroit the year before I was born and he served in that ministry until his death in October, 1958.
He was the lucky one!
During his time as our Archbishop, I was far too young to cause any real waves or even ripples.
Matter of fact, I was so young that my only remembered encounter with him, and by the way in 1948 he was made a Cardinal, was during a visit to my parish church. That visit was a very big deal because it would be the first time that a Cardinal of the Catholic Church would come to SS. Cyril and Methodius Parish on the East Side of Detroit.
In all honesty I cannot remember why he came or what the visit was all about, some sort of ceremonial for sure.
What I do remember was that the Cardinal Archbishop processed from the rectory a full half city block to the church accompanied by parish groups and organizations waving their banners, marching proudly, altar servers in full garb, vested clergy . . .
And the Cardinal in full regalia.
Which meant a magnificent cape with a very lengthy train.
That I do remember because of all possibilities, I was the one chosen to be his train bearer!
I had to wear special vestments for the occasion too.
I walked behind the Cardinal, at the very end of that long and pomp-filled procession.
And I suspect that to this day somewhere in some closet or trunk, tucked away there is still a photo or two of me, little me back then, in my fancy finery walking carefully behind the Cardinal, lifting that extensive train to ensure that not one inch of it touched the ground or got the least bit soiled.
Along the sidewalk, up the stairway, into the church, down the aisle and up to the altar.
And when whatever the occasion for this visit was was finished, reverse the process back to the rectory.
That was my one, sole dealing with the first Archbishop of Detroit in my lifetime.
I shook his hand, probably kissed his ring and someone told him my name. Then I lifted that train and walked - so proudly.
I don't know if I should count that day late in October when his body was brought back to Detroit from Rome. I, like so very many others, stood in a line that snaked around outside the Cathedral, gradually making the way into the building for one final viewing of our late, deceased Archbishop.
He had gone to Rome with much fanfare as a Cardinal about to vote for the next Pope. Pius XII had died and a successor was to be chosen and through our Archbishop Cardinal, Detroit would have a vote in choosing the new pope for the first time in history.
But that was not to be. Edward Cardinal Mooney died suddenly just prior to the opening of the Conclsave. Detroit would have no vote in that election. The deceased would be returned to Detroit for the final farewell.
And I was still too young, too unseasoned to claim anything more than that I once was chosen to be train bearer to the Cardinal Archbishop of Detroit.
Probably because those fancy vestments fit me!
Watch for more in the weeks to come.
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