Thomas Wenski

Thomas Gerard Wenski (born October 18, 1950) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was appointed archbishop of the Archdiocese of Miami by Pope Benedict XVI on April 20, 2010, and was installed on June 1, 2010. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Orlando (2004–2010), coadjutor bishop of Orlando (2003–2004), and auxiliary bishop of Miami (1997–2003).

Thomas Wenski was born on October 18, 1950, in West Palm Beach, Florida, to Chester and Louise (née Zawacki) Wenski. His father was born in Poland with the last name "Wiśniewski", and came to the United States with his parents in 1910 at age 2. The family eventually adopted the Anglicized version, "Wenski". Both Chester and Louise were raised in the Polish neighborhoods of Detroit, Michigan, but moved to Florida after their marriage. Together they ran a business spray-painting stucco houses.

Wenski was raised in Lake Worth, Florida, where he attended Sacred Heart School. He decided to become a priest in the third grade, later recalling, "I never imagined myself as anything else; it was what God wanted me to do, although I sometimes vacillated on whether I wanted to do it." At age 13, he entered Saint John Vianney Seminary in Miami. During his twelve years at the seminary, he was a self-described "very liberal seminarian," questioning Catholic teaching on clerical celibacy and the ordination of women. His views eventually became more conservative through his experience working with Cuban immigrants and reading about communism in Poland and Cuba. He graduated from St. John Vianney, in 1970 with an associate's degree.

Wenski then began his studies in philosophy and theology at St. Vincent de Paul Minor Seminary in Boynton Beach. He earned a Bachelor of Philosophy degree (1972) and a Master of Divinity degree (1975). He later received a Master of Arts degree from the School of Sociology of Fordham University in New York City in 1993, and took summer courses at the Catholic University of Lublin in Lublin, Poland.

Wenski was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Miami by Archbishop Coleman Carroll on May 15, 1976. His first assignment was as an associate pastor at Corpus Christi Parish in Miami, where he remained for three years. At Corpus Christi, he took an interest in the Haitian parishioners who attended Mass in Creole; he was later sent to Haiti to study Creole and Haitian culture.

After returning to Miami in 1979, Wenski was appointed to a Haitian apostolate operating out of the Cathedral of Saint Mary. Wenski then served as associate director and later director of the Pierre Toussaint Haitian Catholic Center in Miami until 1997. He also served concurrently as pastor of three Haitian parishes in the archdiocese: Notre-Dame d'Haiti in Miami, Divine Mercy in Fort Lauderdale, and St. Joseph in Pompano Beach. His outreach to the Haitian Catholic community in Miami was initially met with staunch opposition by Haitian priest and activist Gérard Jean-Juste, who later came to regard Wenski as an ally. He also befriended Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a now laicized priest who later became the first democratically elected President of Haiti,

Wenski celebrated the weekly Mass in English for shut-ins at WPLG, the local ABC affiliate, from 1992 to 1997, and directed the Ministry to Non-Hispanic Ethnic Groups. He became an adjunct professor at St. Vincent de Paul Seminary in 1994. In January 1996, Wenski was named director of the archdiocesan Catholic Charities. In this capacity, he helped form a relationship with Caritas Cuba, the social service arm of the Catholic Church in Cuba. Later in 1996, he spearheaded a relief operation that delivered over 150,000 pounds (68,000 kg) of food to Caritas Cuba for distribution to people left homeless by Hurricane Lili.

On June 24, 1997, Wenski was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Miami and titular bishop of Kearney by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on September 3, 1997, from Archbishop John Favalora, with Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy and Bishop Agustin Roman serving as co-consecrators, at the Miami Arena. Wenski selected as his episcopal motto: "All Things to All Men" (1 Corinthians 9:22). As an auxiliary bishop, he served as episcopal vicar for Broward and Monroe Counties.