USCCB - (Office of Media Relations) - Two Auxiliaries Are Named for the Archdiocese of Miami

Two Auxiliaries Are Named for the Archdiocese of Miami

WASHINGTON (June 23, 1997) -- Pope John Paul II has named two auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese of Miami. They are Father Gilberto Fernandez, Spiritual Director of St. John Vianney College Seminary, and Father Thomas Wenski, archdiocesan Director of Catholic Charities.

Bishop-designate Fernandez, 62, was appointed Titular Bishop of Irina. Bishop-designate Wenski, 46, was assigned the titular see of Kearney.

Archbishop Agostino Cacciavillan, Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to the United States, announced the appointments.

Gilberto Fernandez was born in Havana, February 13, 1935.

He attended Escuelas Pias de la Vibora, Havana and completed his studies at El Buen Pastor Seminary there.

Bishop-designate Fernandez was ordained a priest on May 15, 1959, for the Archdiocese of San Cristobal de La Habana where he served in parishes until coming to the United States in 1967.

After arriving in this country, Father Fernandez served as assistant pastor, administrator, and pastor of several Miami parishes. He was elected to a two-year term as member of the Presbyteral Council in 1995 and was appointed Spiritual Director of Saint John Vianney in 1996.

Thomas G. Wenski was born on October 18, 1950 in West Palm Beach. He attended Saint John Vianney, followed by St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary where he completed his studies. He earned an M.A. in Sociology at Fordham University in New York.

Bishop-designate Wenski was ordained May 15, 1976 for the Archdiocese of Miami.

Following ordination, he was parochial vicar in Corpus Christi parish, from 1976 to 1979, and in St. Mary's Cathedral in Miami from 1980 to 1984. In 1984 he was named Director of the Haitian Apostolate, and in 1996 was appointed Director of Catholic Charities and Community Services. He is also a member of the Presbyteral Council.