Archbishop Thomas Wenski is due to return to South Florida Saturday afternoon, one day after he joined Cuban bishops at an open-air Mass to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth in Havana.
Wenski attended the Mass with Cardinal Jaime Ortega, among others, on Havana’s Avenida de Puerto. The event marked the conclusion of the pilgrimage of the statue of the Virgen Mambisa, or Our Lady of Charity.
Next Sunday, on Jan. 8, special ceremonies will be held at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Charity in El Cobre for the opening of the 400th anniversary of the presence of Our Lady of Charity’s image in Cuba.
Pope Benedict XVI plans to visit the island in late March for the anniversary.
Wenski is scheduled to arrive at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Wenski, 60, was installed as Miami’s archbishop in June 2010, but over the past 15 years he has traveled to Cuba many times for the Catholic Church. In 1996 he spearheaded the delivery of over 150,000 pounds of food to Caritas Cuba for people who were left homeless by Hurricane Lily, which was “the first time that Cubans in Miami participated in a humanitarian relief effort directed to Cuba,” his website biography says.
