Detroit Archdiocese moves to diocesan‑wide employee fingerprinting to bolster security protocols

The Archdiocese of Detroit will require hundreds of employees and clergy to undergo fingerprinting under rules implemented by Archbishop Edward Weisenburger to ensure “the protection of children and vulnerable adults.”

The archbishop said in a March 11 letter to the archdiocese that upon taking the helm in Detroit in 2025 he accepted the responsibility of “addressing the wounds caused by clergy sexual abuse” as well as “strengthening the Church’s commitment to accountability and protection.”

Though it has avoided filing for bankruptcy over abuse lawsuits, the archdiocese has paid out millions of dollars in settlements to Church abuse victims. Weisenburger in his message said such abuse “must not be minimized, explained away, or forgotten.”

The archbishop said he instituted a “comprehensive and unprecedented review” of both archdiocesan safety policies and personnel records. The team in charge of the review scrutinized every known case of clergy misconduct over roughly the past century, he said.

Among the “enhanced safeguards” that arose from this review, Weisenburger said, is a “diocesan-wide fingerprinting policy,” one that applies to every archdiocesan employee — including clergy, religious, and lay — as well as volunteers who work with children and vulnerable adults.

The archbishop said he was “first in line” to undergo fingerprinting, followed by the rest of archdiocesan leadership and hundreds of priests. The rule will continue to be implemented over the next several months, he said.

The archdiocese has long implemented background checks as part of its safeguard measures, Weisenburger said. But fingerprinting is “widely recognized as the ‘gold standard’ and most reliable method” in exposing criminals, he noted.

Access to state and federal databases will allow the archdiocese to “receive notification of subsequent arrests of anyone in our system who has been fingerprinted, enabling timely and appropriate action when necessary,” he said.

The archbishop said he had also directed the formation of a “formal curriculum” to be used in an annual seminar for clergy to deepen their awareness of clergy abuse.

“I want all future priests and deacons to have this at the forefront of their minds when they carry out their ministry,” he said.

The archdiocese will continue to support abuse victims by funding psychiatric and psychological care, he said, and the archdiocese will also appoint a dedicated supervisor to monitor priests and deacons removed from ministry over abuse claims.

Confronting the history of abuse in the Church is “a cross that we must be willing to bear” for the sake of victims, Weisenburger said.

“We must commit ourselves to ongoing accountability, transparency, and the unwavering protection of those entrusted to our care — especially God’s beloved little ones,” he told the archdiocese.

Prior to leading the Detroit Archdiocese, Weisenburger was bishop of Tucson, Arizona, from 2017 to 2025; before that, he led the Diocese of Salina, Kansas.