DETROIT (LifeSiteNews) — Current and former colleagues and students of conservative Professors Ralph Martin and Eduardo Echeverria were shocked and dismayed to learn on Thursday of their firing from Sacred Heart Seminary (SHS) by Detroit’s progressive new prelate, Archbishop Edward Weisenburger.
Last month, Weisenburger came under fire for eliminating nearly all public celebrations of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) and prohibiting ad orientem in the Novus Ordo.
No explanation for the prominent educators’ removal has been offered by either the archbishop’s office or by the men themselves, who are likely bound from speaking out because of non-disclosure agreements.
In a terse statement, the archdiocese’s associate director of communications, Holly Fournier, dismissed LifeSiteNews’ inquiry, saying: “The Archdiocese of Detroit does not comment on archdiocesan or seminary personnel matters.”
Both men had criticized Pope Francis’ doctrinal ambiguity over the years, a fact that has fueled suspicions that Detroit’s new archbishop wants to banish exposure to conservative, orthodox teaching rooted in the magisterium of the Church from the training of future priests.
“It’s true I was fired yesterday morning from my position at the seminary by Archbishop Weisenburger,” explained Martin in a statement provided to LifeSiteNews. “When I asked him for what reason he said he didn’t think it would be helpful to give any specifics but mentioned something about having concerns about my theological perspectives.”
“This was a shock after contributing a lot to the seminary over more than 22 years, including to our flagship Pontifical Degree Program, the Licentiate of Sacred Theology in the New Evangelization,” said Martin.
“It is outrageous and terribly damaging to the seminary and to the Church,” said Dr. Janet Smith, a former longtime colleague of both men at SHS. “These men have served both the seminary and the Church fantastically.”
“For their careers to end in firing by the Archbishop, with little or no reason given, is a shameful act of attempted humiliation,” Smith told LifeSiteNews.
Smith said that the most tragic aspect of their firing is that “seminarians will now no longer be exposed to the teaching of these outstanding educators.”
Smith spoke about Martin’s service as a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization.
“You now have people serving on Pontifical Academies who are not Catholic, outright dissenters, and so on,” said Smith. “And here you have Ralph Martin who has made the most phenomenal contribution to evangelization, which has been a priority of the Church for some time … and he is fired!”
“It’s pretty clear that there’s going to be a dismantling of Sacred Heart Seminary,” predicted Smith, “and this is a ferocious start.”
“One fears for all seminaries,” said Smith. “If these two aren’t qualified to teach in a seminary — at least in respect to Martin because of his theology, which is entirely faithful and orthodox — who is safe?” she wondered.
“The firing of Ralph Martin and Eduardo Echeverria from Sacred Heart Seminary … is an act of a thin-skinned, petty tyrant,” declared Eric Sammons, editor-in-chief of Crisis Magazine. “It’s not about advancing the Gospel; it’s about power and control.”
“Note that neither Martin nor Echeverria are ‘trads’ — they are simply faithful Catholics who have been willing to speak out at times against evils in our Church, all out of a love for souls. But tyrants can’t handle even the slightest criticism, and so they needed to be removed,” said Sammons.
Like Smith, Sammons predicted a declining future for SHS: “Sadly, Sacred Heart Seminary, which has been one of the best in the country, will now likely turn into a third-rate institution that no faithful young man will want to attend.”
“One of the greatest things that ever happened to me was going to that seminary,” said Fr. Joseph Krupp on X.
“I’m beyond saddened to watch someone in leadership have so little humility that they feel they can stroll into a successful and thriving institution and just smack it around like this,” he added.
“This is why good Catholics don’t want to work for the Church,” said Catholic commentator Brian Holdsworth. “New bishops come and go and you’ll eventually end up working for a bad one and have your whole life derailed.”
“I’ve seen it over and over again,” he added.
Archbishop Weisenburger was appointed by Pope Francis in February 2025, during the tenure of Cardinal Robert Prevost (now Pope Leo XIV) as head of the Dicastery for Bishops.
While bishop of Tucson, Arizona, he supported COVID-era restrictions and vaccine mandates, forbidding priests from issuing religious exemptions. He also has been outspoken in support of “LGBT Catholics,” insinuating that God created same-sex attraction in people and that such attraction is healthy and normal.
