Help Archbishop Wenski celebrate 20 years as a bishop

By Communications Department - Archdiocese of Miami

MIAMI | All are invited to a special Mass honoring Archbishop Thomas Wenski on the 20th anniversary of his ordination to the episcopacy. The Mass will be celebrated Sunday, Sept. 3, at 10 a.m. at St. Mary Cathedral, 7525 N.W. Second Ave., Miami. 

A dessert reception will immediately follow the Mass in the Cathedral Hall.

In lieu of personal gifts, please consider making a donation in the archbishop's name for the benefit of our seminarians. To donate, click here: Anniversary Gift.

Archbishop Wenski was born Oct. 18, 1950, in West Palm Beach, Fla., and grew up in Lake Worth, where he attended Catholic school at his home parish, Sacred Heart. He studied at St. John Vianney Minor Seminary in Miami and St. Vincent de Paul Major Seminary in Boynton Beach and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Miami May 15, 1976.  

After serving three years at Corpus Christi Parish in Miami’s Wynwood section, he was sent to Haiti to learn Creole. Upon his return, he was assigned to the archdiocese’s newly established Haitian Apostolate, based at Notre Dame d’Haiti Church in Miami. He served there from 1979 until his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of Miami, June 24, 1997.  

He was ordained a bishop Sept. 3, 1997 and continued to serve in the archdiocese, as director of Catholic Charities, until July 1, 2003, when he was named coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Orlando. He assumed the role of fourth bishop of Orlando Nov. 13, 2004. On April 20, 2010, he was named fourth Archbishop of Miami and Metropolitan of the Province of Miami, which includes the seven dioceses of Florida. He was installed as Archbishop of Miami June 1, 2010.

In addition to English, Archbishop Wenski speaks fluent Spanish and Creole, and is conversant in his parents’ native Polish. The only Florida native serving as a bishop in the state, he is known for his advocacy on behalf of immigrants and refugees.