Religion
Edmund Szoka
1927–2014 · Catholic cardinal, Archbishop of Detroit, Vatican administrator
Archbishop of Detroit in the 1980s who hosted Pope John Paul II in 1987, then became the Vatican's top financial officer and governor of Vatican City.
- Born
Grand Rapids, Michigan- Died
Novi, Michigan
aged 86- Birth name
- Edmund Casimir Szoka
- Also known as
- Cardinal Szoka
- Detroit years
- 1940s, 1981–1990, 2006–2014
- Field
- Religion
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
The son of Polish immigrants, Szoka was born in Grand Rapids, grew up in Muskegon and spent his last seminary years at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit. After years as a priest in the Upper Peninsula he became the first bishop of Gaylord in 1971. In 1981 he was named archbishop of Detroit. He put the archdiocese's finances in order and in September 1987 welcomed Pope John Paul II to Detroit, with stops in Hamtramck and a Mass at the Pontiac Silverdome. He was made a cardinal in 1988. His decision to close about thirty struggling inner-city parishes in 1989–90 drew sharp protests. In 1990 he went to Rome to run the Holy See's economic affairs office and later governed Vatican City State until 2006. He retired to metro Detroit, died in Novi in 2014 and, after a funeral at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, was buried at Holy Sepulchre in Southfield.
Highlights
- Third archbishop of Detroit, 1981–1990
- Hosted Pope John Paul II's Detroit visit in September 1987
- Created a cardinal in 1988
- President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, 1997–2006
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 4
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1981–1990, 2014
Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament
His cathedral as archbishop of Detroit, and the site of his funeral Mass in 2014.
Studied here · 1940s
Sacred Heart Major Seminary
He completed his junior and senior seminary years here.
Related place · 1987
Pontiac Silverdome
Demolished · 1975–2013
Scene of Pope John Paul II's 1987 Mass during the visit Szoka hosted; the stadium was demolished in 2017–2018.
Buried here · 2014
Holy Sepulchre Cemetery
The Catholic cemetery in Southfield where he was buried in a private ceremony.