Celebrating Islam in an Archdiocese of Decline

On the evening of June 6^th—the Vigil of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ—Detroit Archbishop Edward Weisenburger joined Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Imam Fadhel Al-Sahlani (representative of the Shia Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani in North America), and other Muslim dignitaries at the opening ceremony of the new headquarters of the Islamic Institute of America (IIOA) and the inauguration of the Imam Al-Hasanain Mosque.

According to the Arab American News, it is a “$16 million project that community leaders describe as one of the largest and most significant Islamic developments in Michigan in recent years.” It is a sprawling complex built on seven acres, which “features striking golden domes that have already made it a prominent landmark in Metro Detroit’s religious landscape.”

And the Archbishop of Detroit was there to celebrate it.

“There is no place where I feel more respect, fraternity and kindness,” Weisenburger declared. “From the moment I entered this beautiful site, I felt a profound divine presence. We are members of the same human family. All churches, all mosques, all synagogues, all places where God reaches out and touches with his finger are sacred. This is a truly wonderful and sacred place, a place that will bring all of humanity, I believe, into a deeper communion with our one god.”

Huh?

It should be obvious—even to those given to this kind of One God, Many Paths nonsense—that the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Detroit, whose seat is in the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, should not exclusively find “more respect, fraternity, and kindness” in a mosque. Nor should the archbishop publicly proclaim the presence of the divine in such a place. For unless he equivocates on the nature of the One he calls divine, it is obvious that the Triune God is not present in a mosque. On this point, all Muslims would agree with me.

And with all respect to the infinitely long Finger of God, it does not—it cannot—rest upon a mosque (for the purpose of sacralizing). That is, if you are a faithful Catholic, such a thing is not possible, nor is such a statement true. Weisenburger knows that sacralization of matter inheres in the sacramental ministry of the priest in persona Christi capitis. But he apparently thinks sacralized matter pops up elsewhere—like a mosque.

Which, incidentally, isn’t even how Muslims view it. At least not entirely. The sacral character of a mosque is not in the walls or the carpets. It is in the prayers that are said. Therefore, for the Muslim, all the earth is a mosque. This is in keeping with the teaching of Muhammad. So while some holy places—Mecca, Medina, Najaf, and Karbala (in the case of Shia Muslims)—are revered, all the earth is sacred because all belongs to Allah.

A mosque (from the Arabic masjid) is first and foremost a place of prostration. To whom? To Allah. It has many other roles and functions in Islam, but one function it absolutely does not have is, as Weisenburger claims, “a place that will bring all of humanity…into a deeper communion with our one god.” Unless, of course, Muslims and Catholics and Hindus and Jews and all other believers equivocate on the nature of their God or gods.

Muslims—particularly those present at the opening ceremony—may agree with the archbishop’s statement in form. But in substance, it cannot be so. They hear “deeper communion with our one god” as tantamount to submission to Allah, the heart of Islam. No Muslim hears “deeper communion with our Triune God.” For the Muslim, this is shirk, a form of idolatry, partnering, or polytheism. It is the gravest of sins because it violates the foundational Islamic dogma of tawhid, the oneness of Allah. It is, rather predictably, punishable by Hellfire.

Did Archbishop Weisenburger cause scandal with his remarks? Absolutely, as he did not witness to Christ Crucified, and he concealed the true nature of the Triune God either to avoid offense or encourage Muslims in their faith.

But looking at it in the light most favorable to him, the archbishop probably saw this as an opportunity to witness the Catholic Faith (there is no evidence for this beyond his mere presence), engage in “religious dialogue” with Muslims (there is no evidence of this taking place at the mosque opening ceremony, whatever it might mean), and offer support to other members of our “human family” in their religious journeys.

Weisenburger entered priestly formation after the Second Vatican Council and was apparently formed by the muddled messiness too often found in seminaries in the immediate post-conciliar years. His comments are the logical and theological consequences. It simply shocks one to think that the archbishop preached on Trinity Sunday only to equivocate on the nature of that Trinity days later.

Beyond Weisenburger’s scandalous comments, the irony of the archbishop celebrating the opening of a mosque while initiating the reorganization of an archdiocese in decline will not be lost on his flock. As reported recently, the restructuring and renewal initiative, scheduled to take effect next year, will likely see the suspension or stoppage of weekend Masses at 90 parishes across Metro Detroit and surrounding counties. The archbishop believes that “God is inviting us to reimagine parish life.” It is clear that the faithful are going to need strong imagination because the reality of parish life will shrink or be nonexistent in many places.

The Mass is the source and the summit of our faith. How, one might ask, does a parish have life if the very source of that life is diminished?

In fairness to Archbishop Weisenburger, the decline of Catholic life in Detroit long preceded his coming. There are many reasons: ethnic, demographic, cultural, and religious. It is not surprising that the Archdiocese of Detroit—facing $94 million in unfunded maintenance and $18 million in budget deficits—must plan and act with firm discipline and prudence. Nor is it surprising that some of the pain will be felt on the parish level.

What surprises is how managerial it all is. The website dedicated to the restructuring employs all the usual suspects: listening, phases, implementation, parish workbooks. There is the obligatory nod to “confidence in Christ” and so forth, but the charts and graphics and middle-management-speak reek of a corporate bankruptcy plan. It is both buzzy and banal. The Barque of Peter is a business, and business isn’t good in Detroit.

In announcing the initiative last November, Weisenburger spoke of “new creativity and deep faith, to build something that will last—something vibrant, sustainable, and full of hope.” Perhaps this is what he found so attractive at the grand opening of the Imam Al-Hasanain Mosque.