By Alexia Beatriz Fodere - The Archdiocese of Miami
MIAMI | A choir in white T-shirts bearing Archbishop Thomas Wenski’s portrait sang as worshippers clapped. Young dancers in green and white stretched their arms across the aisle, and drummers kept the rhythm. At Notre Dame d’Haïti Mission in Little Haiti, the opening day of Jericho 2026 was also a joyful celebration of the archbishop’s 76th birthday.
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But the message Archbishop Wenski delivered in Haitian Creole on Oct. 18 went well beyond the celebration. Addressing the suffering in Haiti and the fears of immigrants in the United States, he reminded the congregation that human dignity is not something a government can grant or take away.
“It is not money that gives us dignity. It is not weapons that give us dignity. It is not TPS or a green card that gives us dignity,” Archbishop Wenski said in his homily, delivered in Haitian Creole. “God made us human; He created us in his image, and he gave us our dignity.”
“Take away the money, take away the weapons, take away our papers; we still have our dignity, because God gave it to us,” he added.
The archbishop’s words came amid continuing gang violence, political instability and humanitarian hardship in Haiti, while Haitian immigrants in the United States faced growing fears of deportation. Those concerns intensified after the federal government ended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti in July 2026, ending TPS-related protection from deportation and employment authorization for affected Haitians, even as legal challenges continued.
The words carried particular meaning in a parish where Archbishop Wenski once ministered, long before becoming archbishop of Miami. Assigned to the archdiocese’s Haitian apostolate in 1979, he learned Haitian Creole and spent years accompanying a community whose struggles and expressions of faith have remained central to his ministry.
Faith that breaks down walls
Jericho, Notre Dame d’Haïti’s annual week of spiritual renewal, takes its name from the Old Testament account of Joshua and the Israelites, who marched around the fortified city of Jericho in obedience to God until its walls fell. For the Haitian Catholic community, the celebration symbolizes the power of faith and prayer to overcome life's obstacles. Led by Father Reginald Jean-Mary, the parish brings worshippers together for a week of prayer, worship and spiritual reflection, encouraging them to confront the walls of fear, suffering and injustice in their own lives.
This year’s theme came from Psalm 23:5: “O God, you prepare a table for me before the eyes of all my enemies. You welcome me, you make my heart glad, and you give me everything I need.”
Archbishop Wenski used the image of that table to ask what stands between God’s promise and those longing to receive it.
“There are great walls we must break down,” he said, naming “walls of pride, walls of indifference, walls of fear, walls of injustice, walls of insecurity, walls of ICE.”
He told worshippers that those walls must be confronted not with violence, but with “the weapons of our prayers and the Word of God.”
“All we can do is pray,” he added.
Human dignity comes from God
The homily drew from the Gospel account in which Jesus was asked whether it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. When Jesus asked whose image appeared on a coin, his challengers answered that it was Caesar’s. His reply, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God,” became the foundation of Wenski’s message.
“If a coin belongs to Caesar because it bears his image, then the human being, whom God created in his likeness, belongs to God because he bears God’s image,” the archbishop explained.
He applied that teaching to Haiti, describing gang violence, food insecurity and political collapse as affronts to the imago Dei, the image of God in every person.
“Every Haitian, every brother and sister, has dignity; each has rights,” he said. “Everyone is a human being. It is not the state that makes us human. It is not the United Nations that makes us human. It is not corrupt politicians who make us human.”
Archbishop Wenski also warned that governments and institutions, while responsible for administering justice, exceed their authority when they act as if they control people’s lives and futures. He cautioned against placing ultimate faith in political factions, shifting governments or foreign powers, whether in Haiti or in the United States.
In a pointed play on words, he rejected Viv Ansanm, the name of a Haitian gang coalition meaning “living together,” and called instead for byen viv ansanm: living well together.
For religious organizations and the international community, he said, the measure of their efforts should not simply be their support for failed political structures, but their wholehearted commitment to saving lives and recognizing human dignity.
The message was also deeply personal and spiritual. Archbishop Wenski asked listeners to recognize Christ in people whose suffering may be overlooked.
“We cannot look at Christ on the cross without looking at the people crucified before our eyes and seeing Christ in them,” he said.
Remembering Jesus’ suffering, he continued, should awaken compassion for those who are poor or alone, sick or imprisoned, undocumented, heartbroken or crushed in spirit.
A community united in faith and gratitude
Throughout the church, the celebration reflected a community united in prayer and affection. Rose Augustine sang with the Chorale Notre Dame du Perpétuel Secours, whose members wore white T-shirts bearing Archbishop Wenski’s portrait. Drummers kept the rhythm as parish mimers performed a liturgical dance, while worshippers clapped, sang and raised their arms in prayer. Among them, Joselen Gesieu sang with her eyes closed and arms extended.
On the back of the shirts, a message in Creole expressed the community’s affection:
“Archbishop Wenski, we love you, and we will never stop thanking you. May Our Mother of Perpetual Help continue to embrace and protect you.”
It was more than a joyful celebration. It was a family reunion, filled with love and gratitude for a man who has been part of the community's life for decades.
Archbishop Wenski smiled as he held up one of the shirts, and a large collage of photographs offered another tribute to the archbishop's longstanding ties to the Haitian community.
As parishioners walked around the church singing and praying, echoing the Israelites' march around Jericho, the celebration returned to Wenski's central message: Faith, prayer and respect for human dignity can help overcome the walls of fear, injustice and division.
