Detroit Archbishop Edward Weisenburger has a history of concealing clerical sexual abuse, according to revelations of a Church-commissioned investigation that examined the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, where Weisenburger served 16 years as Vicar General.
As Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City from 1996 to 2012, Weisenburger not only wielded immense influence—but used it to suppress accountability for priestly sexual abuse of minors. Investigators discovered that he routinely instructed staff to “destroy after reading,” oversaw the mass deletion of his own emails following his departure, and even enabled a defamation lawsuit against an abuse survivor, all while hypocritically claiming to support transparency.
In 2019, the Archdiocese of Okalahoma commissioned McAfee & Taft A Professional Corporation to investigate incidents of abuse from 1960 through 2018. The McAfee & Taft investigation made over one hundred references to Weisenburger and his interferences. Rather than documenting transparency or corrective leadership, the report reveals actions that strikingly curtailed accountability and obstructed investigative clarity.
Among his last official acts before his death, Pope Francis appointed Weisenburger Archbishop of Detroit, on February 11, 2025, where he was installed on March 18. Within weeks of his installation, Weisenburger enacted a sweeping prohibition of the Traditional Latin Mass in parish churches beginning July 1—allowing it only in select non‑parochial settings—and subsequently dismissed three senior orthodox professors from Sacred Heart Seminary: Dr. Ralph Martin, Dr. Eduardo Echeverria, and Dr. Edward Peters.
Prior to this, as the bishop of Tucson, AZ (2017-2025), Weisenburger notoriously suggested during the 2018 spring meeting of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) that “canonical penalties” – including the denial of Holy Communion – be imposed on Catholics involved in Trump’s border enforcement policies.
In September of 2021, Bp. Weisenburger sent a letter to every priest in the Diocese of Tucson directing them to refuse assistance to those seeking an exemption to COVID vaccine or mask mandates.
Weisenburger is also a signatory on the Tyler Clementi Foundation‘s pro-LGBT statement.
These controversial moves are simply the latest in a history of harming the lay faithful entrusted to his care, as the McAfee and Taft investigation reveals concerning cases of clerical sexual abuse against minors that took place during Weisenburger’s tenure as Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.
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