By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami

Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC

Archbishop Thomas Wenski shares a laugh with Franciscan Father Paul Lininger, executive director of the U.S. Conference of Major Superiors of Men, left, and Oblate Father Andrew Small, a member of the U.S. bishops' Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America.

Message delivered by Archbishop Thomas Wenski Sept. 22 at the opening session of the plenary meeting of the Haitian Bishops Conference, taking place in Miami Sept. 22-27.

Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC

Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski shares a funny story with two Haitian colleagues, Bishop Joseph Gontrand D�coste of J�r�mie, center, and Bishop Launay Saturn� of Jacmel.

I am honored to host to this unique gathering of Church leaders from around the world; gathered in Miami to discuss the reconstruction of the Church in Haiti. Welcome to Miami! Miami is my hometown and one of the most culturally diverse and international cities in the hemisphere and perhaps the world. It�s also become the home to many other people from around the world and for the next few days, I would like you to consider it home� but only for the next few days.

I�d like to thank Archbishop K�breau for his kind words and say how happy I am to see so many familiar faces here this evening. I�m particularly gratified that the other two members of the US Bishops taskforce on Haiti are here: Cardinal Sean O�Malley from Boston and Bishop Guy Sansaricq from Brooklyn. Archbishop Timothy Broglio is also here from our Conference and who is known to many of you from his time in the Secretariat of State and his work in Central America. It is already a sign of our solidarity as the one Church that our gathering feels more like a reunion than a meeting of strangers.
 

Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC

Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley, a member of the U.S. bishops' Haiti Advisory Group, speaks to a participant Sept. 23 at the international gathering to discuss international coordination of Haiti relief efforts.

It is also comforting to know that given his many commitments, the Holy Father was made aware of our meeting in Miami, as Archbishop K�breau has just informed us. Sometimes, it might not be a good thing for the boss to hear about what you�re doing: but I think we�re all comforted by the Pope�s spiritual closeness and his �fervent prayers� for our work.  Perhaps he is wondering why he hears about Miami so much? Let me explain. While in Rome last June during the Pallium ceremonies, I had the pleasure of visiting the Holy Father and introducing him to the pilgrims from Miami that had traveled with me to the seat of Peter.  During the meeting, I introduced to the Holy Father, Miami�s current two auxiliary bishops, Bishop Noonan and Bishop Estevez. I explained to the Holy Father that one of the bishops was born in Cuba and the other came from Ireland. The pope pondered for a moment and then looked at me saying: �Yes Miami! Very international.� Of course I agreed with the Holy Father, saying, �Yes Holy Father. Miami is very close to the United States!�

And that�s what we�ve done by gathering here from many parts of the world. We�ve come very close � PROCHE - to each other as the one Church, the one body of Christ. We�ve gathered as bishops and other Church leaders to see how we can remain close � PROCHE - to the Church and people of Haiti in the months and years ahead. This is our goal: to persevere in our commitment to Haiti, as the Holy Father encourages us to do. We are to remain with each other � close � reflecting the closeness of God who came very close to us in the Incarnation and remains close to us in the Church and in the Spirit of the Risen Lord who cries within us �Abba, Father.�

The Church of course is not just close to the people, the Church is the people of God. And because of that, the joys and sorrows of the Church are also the joys and sorrows of the world. The Church in Haiti has lived the drama and tragedy of the history of the people of Haiti as we all have to some extent. Long before the earthquake, the Church was the major organizing pillar of Haitian society in so many ways. More than a social service agency or a substitute education system: the Church carries forward a comprehensive vision of the human person.  Our work should be seen in this light: our response to Haiti�s most recent disaster is to join together to build up every Haitian man and woman and every aspect of each person. This is the �basic truths of the human person� that the Church teaches as integral human development: the human, spiritual, physical and emotional development of each and every person.  This is what Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed in Caritas in Veritate.

This gives us plenty of things to talk about and an agenda that might take us into next month. This is why it�s important we limit ourselves; set specific goals for our meeting so that we�re clear why we�re here and what we hoping to achieve. I want to put three questions before us � and maybe offer some tentative answers regarding our agenda.

First: why are we here and what are we hoping to achieve. Principally, we want to discuss and agree on a trustworthy mechanism that can be used by the Church in Haiti and Catholic donors from around the world to rebuild the Church in Haiti.

Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC

Auxiliary Bishop Guy Sansaricq of Brooklyn, N.Y., looks over a display touting St. Thomas University's support of a fair trade coffee cooperative in Miami's sister diocese, Port-de-Paix, Haiti.

Second: who is behind this initiative? There has been a small group of Church partners that began several months ago to put this mechanism together. There have been many meetings/emails/calls and documents proposing this mechanism that many of you have seen (or should have read at least on the plane journey to Miami). The Haitian bishops have met at least twice in plenary session to discuss earlier versions of this proposal and have given it the green light. The French and German bishops have discussed these plans and all the Presidents of CELAM have discussed this mechanism. And from the USCCB we have given it our full support, with staff from our conference and agencies assisting in the process. In short, we are all behind what we�re trying to accomplish during this meeting, with the Haitians in the driving seat.

Three: What do we want to achieve? In short, we want to finalize this process of the building mechanism � called PROCHE - and to begin the next step in making the system work.

 

Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC

The sign welcomes participants to a plenary session of the Haitian bishops' conference, being held in Miami due to the large number of international participants.

It will be tempting during our meeting to try and raise all the questions related to the ongoing problems in Haiti and to try to answer them. Most pressing will be the humanitarian questions regarding shelter and safety that traditionally our CARITAS partners have been focusing on. However, given the need to come to a consensus on Church reconstruction, we�re asking that we remain focused on that task. There will be other moments to make progress on these other issues. In the message of the Holy Father conveyed by Cardinal Bertone SDB and read to us by the Nuncio to Haiti, the Pope encourages us to �persevere in the construction efforts and support for the population that began spontaneously after January�s earthquake.�

As we enter into these few days together, we are united through the proximity of the Holy Father who offers us his �earnest encouragement� and �fervent prayer� for the success of our gathering. Let us do so in a spirit of openness to one another and to the Spirit of the Risen Lord in whom �all things are made new.�

To read the message from the Holy Father click here.