The changes have been approved by Archbishop Allen Vigneron, according to a statement released Wednesday morning. A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Detroit, Holly Fournier, told the Free Press on Wednesday the changes will not result in the immediate closings of individual parishes. But some are concerned that changes could eventually lead to future reductions.

The restructuring will mean that individual churches and parishes will be grouped together, usually with parishes nearby.

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The Nov. 16-17 virtual meeting involved about 300 bishops on Zoom and many viewers watching the livestreamed public portions.

The two days of discussions went off without a hitch, save for the occasional bishop either on mute or repeating: "Can you hear me?" while Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, gave the thumbs-up sign from the USCCB studio that was the command center for these sessions.

The archbishop, led the meeting along with Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron of Detroit, USCCB vice president and Msgr. J. Brian Bransfield, outgoing USCCB general secretary. The three sat at a desk behind plexiglass separators, quite different from the dais on the hotel ballroom stage at typical bishops' meetings.

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Archbishop Allen Vigneron, who leads the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit, was named this week by Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), to head the new group on the last day of the bishops' annual fall meeting.

Gomez struck a conservative tone in his remarks in emphasizing abortion by saying Biden supports policies that "attack some fundamental values we hold dear." Biden spoke last week with Pope Francis in a call seen as a show of unity that was praised by liberal and moderate Catholics.

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Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit said that Catholic politicians who advocate legal recognition of same-sex marriage should not receive Communion.

The archbishop's statement closely followed a similar opinion from a widely-read canon law commentator, Edward Peters, who is an adviser to the Apostolic Signatura, the top judicial authority in the Catholic Church.

Archbishop Vigneron said the Church wants to help Catholics "avoid this personal disaster".

He said: "For a Catholic to receive holy Communion and still deny the revelation Christ entrusted to the Church is to try to say two contradictory things at once: 'I believe the Church offers the saving truth of Jesus, and I reject what the Church teaches.' In effect, they would contradict themselves.

"This sort of behaviour would result in publicly renouncing one's integrity and logically bring shame for a double-dealing that is not unlike perjury."

In a post on his "In the Light of the Law" blog, Peter said Catholic teachings make it clear that marriage is between one man and one woman.

Therefore, he said, "Catholics who promote ‘same-sex marriage' act contrary to canon 209 § 1 and should not approach for holy Communion per canon 916. Depending on the facts of the case, they also risk having holy Communion withheld from them under canon 915, being rebuked under canon 1339 § 2, and/or being sanctioned under canon 1369 for gravely injuring good morals."

He said Catholic politicians lending support to same-sex marriage were in a similar situation, "with special attention being paid to the heightened responsibility that civil servants have to protect the common good".

Peters said the Church would regard any attempt by persons of the same sex to marry, regardless of their religious affiliation or lack thereof, as null.

Sources:

Detroit Free Press

In the Light of the Law (Edward Peters)

Image: The Michigan Catholic