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MCHR celebrates the life of one of our Founders, Bishop Thomas Gumbleton

Thomas Gumbleton was such a steady light in the city of Detroit. Nationally and internationally, he burned bright as a proclaimer and practitioner of gospel nonviolence. Always flowing from and within that was a constant vision of human rights. That was certainly reflected in the founding of MCHR, but it also cost him his beloved urban apostolate at St. Leo’s. He broke the silence of the night on the rights of LGBTQ folk and those abused by Catholic clergy – and paid the official consequences. He was among a generation of Roman clergy in this city of which we will not soon see the like again. In crossing over on the Feast of Martin Luther King Jr., he joins the ancestors and saints who sing with us so constant in sacrament. Blessed is the One who comes. Pray for us Tom.

Visitation for Bishop Gumbleton will begin on Wednesday, April 10th, from 1pm until the time of the prayer service at 4pm at the IHM Sisters Motherhouse, 610 West Elm Avenue, Monroe. Visitation will continue Thursday, April 11th, from 2pm to 8pm at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 1000 Eliot Street, Detroit (Click here for the visitation livestream) and Friday, April 12th, from 12 noon to 8 pm at Chas. Verheyden, Inc., 16300 Mack Avenue, Grosse Pointe Park. Bishop Gumbleton will lie instate on Saturday, April 13th from 9:30 am until the time of his Funeral Mass at 11 am at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, 9844 Woodward Avenue, Detroit. The Mass will be livestreamed here.
Interment will take place at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Southfield.

In keeping with Bishop Gumbleton’s legacy, the Gumbleton family would appreciate memorial contributions be made in his honor to: The Solanus Casey Center, St. Leo’s Soup Kitchen, IHM Sisters, or Kay Lasante Clinic and select health care/Kay Lasante. Donations by check can be sent to: What If Foundation. 1569 Solano Ave. #192 Berkeley, CA 94707. Memo Line: Designate your donation to Kay Lasante Clinic.
Arrangements entrusted to Chas. Verheyden, Inc. – Grosse Pointe www.verheyden.org
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Bishop Thomas, please visit our floral store.

The Detroit Free Press also wrote a publication announcing his transition, and honoring his life:

Detroit’s Bishop Thomas Gumbleton was a quiet man with loud messages

Georgea Kovanis

Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY NETWORK

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, of Detroit, the controversial Catholic priest, was a study in contrasts.

Unafraid to challenge the status quo, he traveled the world – Vietnam, Haiti, Iraq, Afghanistan – to bring peace and social justice to its people. He supported gay Catholics and members of the LGBTQ+ community when the church didn’t. He spoke in favor of extending the statute of limitations for sexual abuse lawsuits against the church, which loudly contradicted leadership and, he said later, ended up costing him his job as a parish

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton spoke out for social justice.