16070: (Hermantin)Sun-Sentinel-Vatican transfers auxiliary bishop in Miami to Orlando (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Vatican transfers auxiliary bishop in Miami to Orlando

By James D. Davis
Religion Editor
Posted July 2 2003


In the second major shift in South Florida Catholic leadership this week,
Auxiliary Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami has been named an assistant for
the Orlando Diocese, the Vatican announced on Tuesday.

Wenski, known as a tireless advocate for the rights of the poor, especially
Haitians -- will become coadjutor, or assistant bishop, to Bishop Norbert
Dorsey, who at 73 is nearing the mandatory retirement age of 75. That means
Wenski, 52, will likely succeed him as shepherd to Orlando's 350,000-plus
Catholics.

It also means goodbye to the archdiocese Wenski has served as auxiliary
bishop to the most Rev. John C. Favalora since 1997 -- as well as the local
Haitians to whom he has ministered for 18 years, and Catholic Charities, the
huge social service agency he has steered in Miami.

Also on Tuesday, the Vatican announced that Bishop Sean O'Malley would be
leaving the Diocese of Palm Beach after less than nine months. O'Malley has
been named the next archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston, and Bishop
Gerald Barbito of Ogdensburg, N.Y., was named the new bishop of Palm Beach.

At a news conference in Miami, Wenski confessed to mixed feelings about
leaving the area he has served all his life: born in West Palm Beach, raised
in Lake Worth, educated in Miami and Boynton Beach, ordained at St. Mary
Cathedral in Miami, consecrated an auxiliary bishop in 1997.

"I have deep roots here," he said. Friends said Wenski's move didn't
surprise them.

"I knew this day was going to come," said the Rev. Daniel Kubala of Miami, a
close friend of Wenski ever since both were ordained priests in 1976. "He's
a man of the church. Always looking to be of assistance."

Area Haitian leaders joined in thanking the man who had helped tens of
thousands of them find freedom and a better life in America.

"He has basically been Haitian life," said Jacques Despinosse, executive
director of the Haitian American Citizenship and Voter Education Center in
Miami. "[With] everything that has happened here, maybe Bishop Wenski was
not visible, but he was in the background. We all came to him for advice or
a conference."We all call him Haitian; he is one of us," Despinosse said.

At the news conference, though, Wenski turned back the applause with
self-deprecating charm: "I'm just trying to be a good priest. I don't know
if I succeed."

He also showed his versatility with languages, answering questions first in
English, then in Spanish and Creole. He also speaks Polish, reads Portuguese
and learned enough Kirunde to say the Mass in Burundi in 2000.

The linguistic skills have served him well as chairman of the U.S. bishops'
Committee on Migration, which pleads the case of the millions of lives
disrupted by war, famine and persecution on several continents. That post
has taken him on more than a dozen trips abroad, such as Africa in 2000 and
the Colombia-Ecuador border this past May.

Wenski has worked on the international stage while still serving as
auxiliary bishop under Miami Archbishop John Favalora, attending
confirmations and other parish events -- often filling in for fellow
auxiliaries Agustin Roman and Gilberto Fernandez as their health faltered.
Both retired within the past year.

Wenski also ran the $34 million archdiocesan Catholic Charities wing, one of
the largest Catholic social service agencies in the U.S. But the big deeds
never made Wenski insensitive to individuals, his friends say.

"He is a holy priest, dedicated not only to helping Haitians, but Cubans,
too," said Monsignor Gerard Darbouze, spiritual leader of Notre Dame d'Haiti
in Miami. "If someone needed food or a place to sleep, he was always ready
to help -- even at 1 in the morning, usually with his own money."

Wenski's new diocese will welcome him officially on Aug. 22 at the Shrine of
Our Lady of the Universe. He said he expects somewhat similar challenges as
he found in Miami -- a growing flock, Hispanic and Haitian immigrants -- and
suggested that lessons learned in South Florida will help him serve his new
diocese.

"I can explain to people not to fear diversity," he said. "Some people think
it divides us. That's shortsighted. Diversity can enrich us. It can make us
better."

James D. Davis can be reached at

jdavis@sun-sentinel.com

or 954-356-4730.

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