In His Haste To Clean House at Sacred Heart Seminary, Archbishop Weisenburger Likely Violated Employment Protocols

Like the sexual abuse scandal, the faithful will be forced to pay for the poor decision making of the bishop should these professors choose to sue the archdiocese.

The dismissal last week of theology professors Ralph Martin and Eduardo Echeverria and canon law professor Ed Peters from Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit has sparked controversy.

The three professors had each been teaching at the seminary for decades. News of their dismissal has proven contentious, prompting allegations that their terminations were politically motivated.

The controversy has been exacerbated by several statements from the professors suggesting they were not given a clear reason for their termination. Details remain unclear, including how much time the professors actually had left on their employment contracts when they were notified of termination.

But some have questioned whether the case might have followed the seminary’s rules for dismissing faculty.

What is the protocol for dismissing professors at Sacred Heart Major Seminary? And was the protocol followed?

The seminary handbook lays out the ordinary process for firing faculty members during a period in which they are under contract.

“The employment of a faculty member may, after due process, be terminated by SHMS at any time, if the seminary determines that the faculty member is in material violation(s) of the contract and/or Faculty Handbook,” the handbook says.

The termination process is triggered when “[w]ritten notification of intent to dismiss signed by the Rector/President of SHMS and specifying the grounds for dismissal, is delivered to the faculty member,” the handbook states.

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