Archbishop Wenski celebrates 40 years of priesthood

By Tom Tracy - Florida Catholic

Photography: TOM TRACY | FC

MIAMI | Although fully a son of South Florida — born in Palm Beach County and formed as a priest in the Archdiocese of Miami — Archbishop Thomas Wenski became the shepherd he is today by stretching boundaries with the curiosity of a missionary.

Speaking last year with a Haitian newspaper, the archbishop recalled how as a young priest he had a chance encounter with Haitians in the 1970s during a cruise ship stop in the Caribbean island. He wondered aloud if he could ever learn to speak this exotic language of Haitian Creole.

The young priest not only pursued the matter through coursework in Miami, he sought out opportunities to take retreats and short-term pastoral assignments in the Haitian countryside and to speak with Haitians living in the Miami area.

His written and spoken facility with the language — and effectiveness in ministry at Miami’s Notre Dame d’Haiti Parish — led to a lifelong relationship with Haiti and the Haitian-American community abroad.

Over the years, and even while serving as bishop of Orlando for seven years, the future archbishop cultivated his skills at being an effective cultural ambassador for the Church in Florida, able to speak and travel with ease in the state’s highly diverse Spanish communities and even smaller communities such as Florida’s Polish enclaves, of which he himself is a product.

Keen observer 

A keen observer of current events, news and politics — in the tradition of Miami’s legendary Msgr. Bryan O. Walsh — Archbishop Wenski has waded into countless regional crises and statewide developments that touched in one way or another on the people of God in South Florida.

Often, the pastoral situations affecting South Florida have their roots in political and cultural shifts in Miami, Tallahassee and Washington, D.C., but also in places like Colombia, Venezuela and of course Cuba, which continues to conduct much of its cultural, religious and political life in exile from Miami.

Pope Francis has remarked that a priest must actively serve as an intermediary between people and God, and that brings Archbishop Wenski’s motto to mind: “All things to all,” notes the executive director of the Tallahassee-based Florida Catholic Conference, Michael Sheedy, who is in regular contact with all of Florida’s bishops.

Sheedy said good language skills help the archbishop find a less formal footing when the situation calls for a personal touch.

“It connects him with those he serves and he seems to love that,” Sheedy said, recalling that last February Archbishop Wenski participated in meetings with officials at the Florida state capitol, with the discussions formal in nature and in English.  

“He was perfectly comfortable and extremely effective. Walking out of the building, he came upon a group of farmworkers and he spoke with and blessed them in Spanish and Creole,” Sheedy said. “He was every bit as comfortable and probably even more energized in that setting than he was inside. In his priesthood, he is living his episcopal motto.”

On May 15, Archbishop Wenski celebrated 40 years as a priest.  

Palm Beach native

Born Oct. 18, 1950, in West Palm Beach, he is the son of first- and second-generation Polish immigrants. He attended Sacred Heart School in Lake Worth and in ninth grade entered what was then the high school seminary of St. John Vianney in Miami. He continued his studies at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach and was ordained for the Archdiocese of Miami May 15, 1976.

“Except for the seven years that I served in Orlando as bishop, I have spent my entire priesthood here in the Archdiocese of Miami,” the archbishop wrote in this month’s column for the Florida Catholic.

For the first three years he served as parochial vicar at Corpus Christi Parish in Miami. From then until his 1997 ordination as a Miami auxiliary bishop, he worked as the parish priest of the Haitian community in South Florida.

“These past 40 years have been years of incredible grace and blessing for me,” Archbishop Wenski wrote, referencing the protagonist in a famous novel, “The Diary of a Country Priest,” by French writer Georges Bernanos: “It is all grace.”  

“Thus, we priests can count on the extraordinary graces of the Lord Jesus who remains ever close to us,” Archbishop Wenksi wrote. “We also count on the prayers and collaboration of brother priests, deacons and religious men and women; and, especially, we count on the prayers of the faithful whom we were ordained to serve.”

Back in Miami

After returning to Miami as archbishop in 2010, he has focused on putting archdiocesan finances on solid footing and promoting vocations to religious and priestly life, to ensure that the many parishes of the archdiocese have an adequate number of spiritual shepherds going forward.

“As I reflect back on these 40 years, I become ever more keenly conscious of the fact of how those prayers, and the collaboration of so many grace-filled people, have made it possible for the Lord to work through me, helping me — often times in spite of myself — to teach, lead and sanctify that portion of the Lord’s flock entrusted to my care,” Archbishop Wenski wrote.

Deacon Ralph Gazitua, a Miami businessman and permanent deacon involved in  detention ministry, noted the archbishop’s commitment to everything from celebrating Mass each year at Everglades Correctional Institution to engagement with the people of Cuba both here and on the island.

“I was fortunate to travel to Cuba with my family, the Archdiocese of Miami, and Archbishop Wenski on two separate occasions to see Pope Benedict and then Pope Francis,” Deacon Gazitua said. “The archbishop led these pilgrimages with his customary charm and humble devotion to his faith.”

“Archbishop Wenski is the real deal,” Deacon Gazitua added. “His passion for his faith and his awareness for the needs of the people is always evident.”

Read the archbishop's reflections during the vespers celebration here.