Thomas Wenski

infobox bishopbiog
name = Bishop Thomas Wenski


religion = Catholic Church
See = Orlando
Title = Bishop of Orlando
Period = November 13, 2004 — Present
Predecessor = Bishop Norbert M. Dorsey
Successor = Incumbent
consecration = September 3, 1997
ordination = May 15, 1976
bishops = Titular Bishop of Kearney
date of birth = October 18, 1950
place of birth = West Palm Beach, FL|

Thomas Gerard Wenski (born 1950) is the current Bishop of Orlando, Florida. He was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Orlando on July 1, 2003 and succeeded Norbert Dorsey as the fourth Bishop of Orlando on November 13, 2004.

Education

Bishop Wenski earned his Associate's Degree (1970) from St. John Vianney Minor Seminary in Miami. He earned a B.A. Degree in Philosophy (1972), and Masters of Divinity (1975), from St. Vincent de Paul Seminary, Boynton Beach, and a M.A. from the School of Sociology of Fordham University in New York. He has also taken summer courses at the Catholic University of Lublin (Poland). He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Miami on May 15, 1976 [http://www.orlandodiocese.org/our_diocese/wenski/wenski_bio.htm] . He is fluent in English, Spanish and Haitian-Creole languages.

Pastoral work

Bishop Wenski served three years as associate pastor of Corpus Christi Church, a mainly Hispanic parish in Miami. In 1979, after briefly ministering in Haiti, he was assigned to the newly established Haitian Apostolate of the Archdiocese. He was associate director and then director of the Pierre Toussaint Haitian Catholic Center in Miami from that time until his appointment as a Bishop in 1997. The Haitian Catholic Center, in addition to providing for the pastoral and spiritual needs of the Haitian communities of South Florida, also provided numerous social, educational and legal services to newly arrived Haitian immigrants [http://www.orlandodiocese.org/our_diocese/wenski/wenski_bio.htm] .

Fluent in the Haitian Creole language, Wenski served concurrently as pastor of three Haitian mission parishes in the Archdiocese—Notre-Dame d’Haiti in Miami, Divine Mercy in Fort Lauderdale, and St. Joseph in Pompano Beach. In 1994, he was an adjunct professor at St. Vincent de Paul Seminary [http://www.flacathconf.org/aboutus/bishops/wenski.htm] .

He celebrated the weekly mass in English for shut-ins at the local ABC affiliate from 1992-1997. He directed the Archdiocese of Miami Ministry to Non-Hispanic Ethnic Groups. In January 1996, then Father Wenski was appointed the Archdiocese Director of Catholic Charities, one of the largest Catholic social service agencies in the United States. In this capacity, he helped forge a collaborative relationship with Caritas Cuba, the social service arm of the Catholic Church in Cuba. Since early 1996, he has traveled to Cuba on many occasions on behalf of the Church [http://www.orlandodiocese.org/our_diocese/wenski/wenski_bio.htm] .

Bishop Wenski has often worked with members of Congress on issues of importance to the Catholic Church. He travelled to Haiti with Congressman E. Clay Shaw and then helped him develop and pass the HERO act which provided ecomomic trade benefits to Haiti and lower prices for United States consumers. He lobbied Congress and President George W. Bush to pass more humane immigration laws. He initiated efforts by the Catholic Church in Florida to help migrant workers around the State.

Episcopacy

Pope John-Paul II appointed Wenski Auxiliary Bishop of Miami on June 24, 1997. He was ordained a bishop on September 3, 1997 in the Miami Arena. Archbishop John C. Favalora served as Principal Consecrator with Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy and Bishop Agustín Alejo Román Rodríguez serving as Principal Co-Consecrators [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bwenski.html] .

Bishop Wenski serves as chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Migration and International Policy Committee. He is a member of the Conference’s Secretariat for Church in Latin America and CLINIC (Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.). On behalf of his work on these committees, he has traveled to the Republic of the Congo and the Great Lakes region of Africa, the Caribbean and Central and South America. In 2001, Governor Jeb Bush appointed him to the Florida Council on Homelessness. He is currently the Episcopal Moderator for Catholic Health Services for the Florida Catholic Conference [http://www.orlandodiocese.org/our_diocese/wenski/wenski_bio.htm] .

On July 1, 2003, Pope John-Paul II appointed Bishop Wenski Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Orlando and he was installed on August 22, 2003. He succeeded Bishop Norbert Dorsey as the fourth Bishop of Orlando on November 13, 2004 [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bwenski.html] .

Wenski was scheduled to lead the Republican National Convention in prayer on the evening of Wednesday, Septembter 3, 2008. [http://portal.gopconvention2008.com/pressrelease/details.aspx?id=56]

External links

* [http://www.orlandodiocese.org/who_we_are/bishop_wenski/index.php Official Bishop Wenski page including columns, homilies and speeches]
* [http://www.orlandodiocese.org/ Diocese of Orlando]

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
title=Auxiliary Bishop of Miami
before=(N/A)
after=(N/A)
years=1997–2003succession box
title=Bishop of Orlando
before=Norbert M. Dorsey
after=Incumbent
years=2004–Present