Leaked Letter Accuses Detroit Archbishop of Breaking Law
Monsignor Weisenburger was installed in Detroit in March. He immediately began banning the Eucharist celebrated towards the Lord and Communion benches. He also reduced the number of churches where Mass is celebrated according to the Roman rite from ten to four.
However, the archbishop has governing authority over the seminary.
The letter, written by an anonymous faculty member of Sacred Heart Major Seminary, addresses the Archbishop’s abrupt dismissal of three long-standing conservative professors: Ralph Martin, Ed Peters, and Eduardo Echeverría.
They were dismissed in quick succession in July.
Monsignor Weisenburger gave the vague explanation that their theological views differed from his own.
The letter also highlights a “climate of fear and uncertainty” at the seminary.
According to the faculty handbook, the seminary must issue written notice of its intent to dismiss a faculty member and provide grounds for dismissal — neither of which was given to the three dismissed professors.
The letter also alleges a breach of the legally binding contracts signed between the seminary and the faculty members. Professors are appointed for six-year terms, which guarantees their positions and salaries for the full six years.
"These dismissals without cause violate their contracts and leave intact the right of each professor to their salary for the remainder of their six-year term," the letter claims.
However, the archbishop offered each professor who was dismissed one year's severance pay on the condition that they sign a non-disclosure agreement.
During a meeting with seminary faculty in mid-August, the archbishop spent less than five minutes discussing this topic. He said that he had fired these men because of his “conscience”. He would not elaborate further because doing so would violate the non-disclosure agreements he had entered into with some of the professors.
When a faculty member expressed concerns at the meeting that the archbishop’s actions violated the faculty handbook, Weisenburger stated that canon law takes precedence over civil norms and procedures.
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