OUR BISHOP
Our Apostolic Administrator
On March 11, 2011, Most Rev. Thomas G. Wenski of the Archdiocese of Miami was named Apostolic Administator of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI. He will govern the diocese until a new bishop for the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee is appointed by Pope Benedict XVI. He will be assisted by the College of Consultors in the daily operation of the diocese. Archbishop Wenski, a native Floridian, was ordained to the priesthood in 1976 and served as Auxiliary Bishop of Miami and Bishop of Orlando prior to returning to Miami as Archbishop in June, 2010.
Members of the College of Consultors include Msgr. Luke Hunt, pastor of St. Ann Parish, Gulf Breeze and Our Lady of the Assumption Mission, Pensacola Beach; Msgr. Michael Reed, rector of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Pensacola; Msgr. James Flaherty, pastor of the Catholic Church of the Holy Spirit, Pensacola; Msgr. Michael Tugwell, rector of the Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More, Tallahassee; Father Dennis O’Brien, pastor of St. Rose of Lima Parish, Milton; and Father Peter Zalewski, pastor of St. Dominic Parish, Panama City.
Our Bishop Emeritus
Most Rev. John H. Ricard was born February 29, 1940, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and upon completion of high school entered the Josephite College Seminary in Newburgh, New York. He completed his theological training at St. Joseph Seminary in Washington, D.C., and was ordained to the priesthood on May 25, 1968, a member of the St. Joseph’s Society of the Sacred Heart (S.S.J.). After ordination, Bishop Ricard continued his studies, earning a master’s degree from Tulane University in New Orleans in 1970 and a doctoral degree from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., in 1984. He served as a priest in the Archdiocese of Washington from the time of his ordination to the priesthood until he was named auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
Bishop Ricard moved to Pensacola from the Archdiocese of Baltimore where he served as auxiliary bishop from the time of his ordination as a bishop on July 2, 1984.
In addition to serving as the shepherd for the diocese’s Catholics, Bishop Ricard has served in national and international roles within the Catholic Church. He traveled on frequent peace-building missions abroad, notably to Bosnia, North Korea and to many of the nations of Africa, as the president and later a board member of Catholic Relief Services (1995 to 2002), the church’s international agency devoted to promoting human development by responding to major emergencies, fighting disease and poverty, and nurturing peaceful and just societies. Bishop Ricard also served as chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office of International Justice and Peace (2002 to 2005). He serves on the board of trustees of the National Black Catholic Congress. He has served as chairman of the USCCB Ad Hoc Committee for the Church in Africa (2006 to 2011).
Bishop Ricard suffered a stroke on Dec. 22, 2009 and had subsequent surgeries to correct complications from the stroke. His retirement due to health reasons was granted by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, on March 11, 2011.
LET NOTHING BE DONE WITHOUT THE BISHOP
“See that you all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as you would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is [administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude[of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful without the bishop either to baptize or to celebrate a love-feast; but whatsoever he shall approve of, that is also pleasing to God, so that everything that is done may be secure and valid.”
Saint Ignatius
Bishop of Antioch
Letter to Smyraeans
about 100 A.D.
Most Reverend John H. Ricard, S.S.J.