Bishop Allen H. Vigneron, 60, right, and Cardinal Adam Maida speak during a news conference in Detroit Monday. Pope Benedict XVI named Vigneron, who has been serving in California, as the new archbishop of Detroit. (AP photo)

DETROIT (AP) — The new spiritual leader of the Detroit area’s 1.4 million Roman Catholics is a Michigan native who is invoking a city slogan about hope as he takes charge of a region tangled in economic woes. Bishop Allen H. Vigneron said he was honored and ‘‘absolutely flabbergasted’’ when told just a few days before Christmas that he would leave the Oakland, Calif., diocese to become archbishop of Detroit, replacing Cardinal Adam Maida. Vigneron, 60, wants time to get reacquainted with the area — ‘‘I’ve been away six years’’ — but he referred to Michigan’s problems and the importance of faith during a news conference Monday. ‘‘The flag and seal of the city of Detroit speak hope — spera meliora, ’hope for better things,’’’ Vigneron said. ‘‘Our hope is rooted in God who is faithful, in the Father, who in Jesus Christ has come to dwell with us and will never abandon us,’’ he said.