Cardinal Szoka visits boyhood parish
Sept 05, 2008
After Mass, under near-perfect blue skies, a stream of well-wishers edged down the church's front steps Sunday to greet the white-haired man in red.
(Press News Service, August 30, 2008) MUSKEGON -- Some were relatives, greeting him with a kiss on the cheek. Others were former classmates, who, in a long-ago childhood, had attended class with him in a school building that no longer stands.
It has become a post-Mass tradition at St. Michael's Catholic Church, in downtown Muskegon, when Cardinal Edmund Szoka comes home to visit.
The difference Sunday: Szoka no longer goes home to Vatican City to the rigors of governing the smallest state on earth.
These days it's back to Northville, a Detroit suburb where Szoka is more involved with some of the duties of a new home owner, such as getting to know the neighbors, working on the house and relearning the complexities of the area expressways.
"One week, I went out three times -- and I got lost three times," Szoka recalled ruefully.
Until his recent retirement, Szoka was one of the most powerful officials in the Vatican governing hierarchy. On Sunday, he greeted many familiar faces and presided over Mass.
A visit home: Cardinal Edmund Szoka enters St. Michael's Church Sunday in Muskegon.
From Michigan to Rome
His relationship with the parish is nearly lifelong. It dates back to the 1930s when, growing up in Muskegon, he attended St. Michael's School. A Grand Rapids native, he was baptized at St. Adalbert's Catholic Church.
His life in the priesthood has taken him far and wide -- to the Gaylord diocese where he became its first bishop, to the Detroit archdiocese where he presided as archbishop and ultimately to the Holy See in Rome, where he managed the Vatican's financial affairs and then oversaw the Vatican itself.
But West Michigan, where many of the cardinal's relatives still live, always has been home.
In 2006, at 79, Szoka retired from his duties as president of the Pontifical Commission of the Vatican City State after Pope Benedict XVI accepted his resignation. He stayed on in the Vatican for another year, serving on five Vatican congregations until his 80th birthday.
Now Szoka, who will turn 81 in September, is adjusting to retirement.
"It's been busy," he said.
He purchased a house in his old archdiocese and moved in April 27.
"You know, when you move into a house, a lot of things are not finished, and that takes a lot of time," he said.
At the same time, he has kept his apartment in the Vatican.
Duties, such as funerals and lending a hand at Masses and special church gatherings, have kept him on the move, with trips to Seattle, Ohio and twice to Quebec.
Szoka has kept faith on a promise to himself.
"I've been doing a lot of reading," he said, "but not heavy reading. That will come later."
His life has taken on some dramatic differences, particularly regarding the work-heavy schedule he kept in the Vatican.
"In a sense, I do," Szoka said when asked if he missed his duties, which involved supervising more than 1,600 employees. "I enjoyed my work.
"It was only 108 acres, but there was a lot going on on those 108 acres. We always had to raise our own money in commercial activities."
Those activities included the Vatican's supermarket, warehouse store, pharmacy, health clinic, gas stations and handling more than 4 million visitors each year.
Szoka was particularly pleased with a project that transformed an old train station into a modern, attractive department store.
Raising revenue for Vatican City "wasn't easy," he said. "It took a lot of effort."
While the grueling schedule has changed, his relationship with the parish of his childhood has not.
Boyhood memories
"I certainly enjoy coming back to the parish where I grew up as a boy," he said.
When he attended St. Michael School, "this church wasn't here," he said. "Instead, there was an empty lot. We used to play football here. We didn't have equipment, of course."
Szoka celebrated Mass Sunday with the Rev. Thomas Simons, pastor of St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Norton Shores.
Szoka spent the afternoon with relatives celebrating the family's reunion. It, too, was simple. The meal was potluck. Everyone brought a dish.
Cardinal Szoka visits boyhood parish