Vigneron!

The Era of Maida has passed!!! Our first native son in the chancery:

The flag and seal of the City of Detroit speak hope – Spera meliora, "Hope for better things." Even more than a call for, they command us to hope. Were this hope founded only in ourselves alone, it would inevitably disappoint. But the Christian community which I am being appointed to lead testifies that we are right to hope even in times of trial, because our hope is rooted in God who is faithful, in the Father, who in Jesus Christ, has come to dwell with us and will never abandon us. This hope, born of faith, is an invaluable contribution which the Catholics of the archdiocese offer our community as we face the social and economic changes of our time.

Whispers has the whole thing, including the money quote: "I don't golf. As a matter of fact it leads many people to wonder if I'm really validly ordained."

As the former rector of the Sacred Heart Seminary, Bishop Allen has a reputation for brilliance in leadership and the utmost pastoral felicity. Since he has no building projects to deal with, here's hoping his energy goes into renovating the hermeneutic of discontinuity at work in the AoD.