How can faith inspire action and advocacy for those seeking safety?

You can read more about this event at the links below:

Archbishop Wenski on Mass Deportation & the Catholic Church’s Role | America Media

Archbishop Wenski and JRS/USA on “Alligator Alcatraz” | Religion News Service

About This Dialogue

Across the United States, the right to migrate and seek safety continues to face growing political, legal, and humanitarian challenges. From detention access to birthright citizenship, people on the move often encounter systems that deny their dignity and limit their freedom.

In this second Ignatian Migration Dialogue, Archbishop Thomas Wenski and Don Kerwin will explore how faith, moral conviction, and community advocacy can unite to defend those most at risk. Drawing from decades of leadership and experience, they will discuss the spiritual and civic responsibilities of standing with migrants and refugees—and how people of faith can act in solidarity today.

Key Discussion Points

• Detainee access to pastoral care

• Conditions in which detainees are being held

• Birthright citizenship

• Support for Haitians and other South Florida immigrant groups at risk of deportation

• Practical ways faith communities can advocate for migrants and refugees

Guest Speaker

Archbishop Thomas Wenski was born in West Palm Beach on October 18, 1950, and grew up in Lake Worth, Florida with his sister and his parents of Polish descent.  He was appointed Archbishop of Miami and Metropolitan of the Province of Miami in 2010. He holds a BA in philosophy and an MDiv from St. Vincent Paul Seminary in Boynton Beach, received a Master of Arts degree in Sociology from Fordham University in New York and a Doctorate in Humane Letters from Saint Thomas University.

He was ordained a priest in 1976.  After briefly ministering in Haiti in 1979, he was assigned to the newly established Haitian Apostolate of the Archdiocese, served as associate director and then director of the Pierre Toussaint Haitian Catholic Center in Miami, served as pastor of three Haitian mission parishes, and conducted  a circuit-riding ministry that helped establish Haitian Catholic communities throughout Florida. In 1996, he was appointed the Archdiocese Director of Catholic Charities and helped forge a collaborative relationship with Caritas Cuba, traveling to Cuba many times on behalf of the Church. He directed relief operations to Caritas Cuba as well as Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Central America, and Colombia. He was ordained auxiliary bishop of Miami on September 3, 1997, and in August 2003, he was named Bishop of Orlando where he served for seven years before returning to Miami as Archbishop in June 2010.

He is the President of the Florida Catholic Conference and He also served on the Board of Trustees of The Catholic University of America until June, 2017. Archbishop Wenski has also served as chair of CLINIC (Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc), and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committees on Migration, International Justice and Peace, Domestic Justice and Human Development. He serves on the following USCCB committees: the Church in Latin America,  Migration, Pro-Life Activities and Religious Liberty.  Archbishop Wenski served on the Board of Directors of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) from January, 2015 to December, 2020.

On June 1, 2017, Archbishop Wenski accepted the invitation of Most Reverend Joseph J. Tyson – Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Pastoral Care of Migrants, Refugees and Travelers of the USCCB – to be the Episcopal Liaison to the European Catholic Communities in the United States.

In addition to English, Archbishop Wenski speaks Haitian Creole and Spanish fluently and preaches and celebrates Mass regularly in both languages. He learned Spanish while still a seminarian and worked with various Spanish speaking groups including Cubans, Puerto Ricans and Mexicans during his seminary training and early years as a priest. He also has a limited knowledge of Polish, the language of his immigrant father and Polish American mother.

The archbishop’s episcopal motto is “Omnia Omnibus”, which means “all things to all men”. The scriptural text is taken from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, “I have become all things to all men, to save at least some.” (9:22)