Catholics, start your engines. It’s Archbishop Wenski’s annual motorcycle ‘biker’ mass

Nearly 350 riders hailing from all corners of Florida revved their motorcycle engines in the parking lot of a Doral church, as they waited for the signal to start their ride. The chilly temperatures that plagued South Florida for a week warmed up to a nice 70 degrees. Perfect for a Sunday ride.

No, these aren’t the Hell’s Angels gathering for a meetup. Quite the opposite. The leader of this pack is Miami’s top Catholic, Archbishop Thomas Wenski.

The Archdiocese of Miami hosted its 13th annual Archbishop Motorcycle Ride Sunday, which began with an early morning mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Doral and was scheduled to conclude with a group ride to St. Justin Martyr Church in Key Largo, where riders were greeted with food trucks and music.

The event brings together hundreds of religious motorcycle lovers, while raising funds to benefit St Luke’s Center, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility operated by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami.

“It’s a good, wholesome way of passing time with other motorcycle enthusiasts,” said Wenski in an interview with the Miami Herald.

After a quick blessing from Wenski, the bikers put up their kickstands and began the 50-mile trek to Key Largo, with the archbishop astride his black Harley Davidson Street Glide.

As the Catholic Church’s top leader in Miami, Wenksi has made a name for himself over the years as a prominent spiritual leader with a passion for helping the under served. Wenksi — who speaks fluent Creole and Spanish — has been a long-time advocate for Haitian and Latino communities in Florida.

But the Archbishop, who turns 75 this year, is also known for his passion for riding motorcycles.

“We have an undeserved reputation,” he said. “Sometimes people think of bikers as being somewhat edgy, but most bikers are actually professionals .. you have a lot of doctors or accountants and lawyers that are bikers, because those bikes aren’t cheap.”

In a sea of black leather and denim, many of the bikers sported jackets inscribed with the name of their motorcycle clubs. “Emmaus Bikers, Catholic and Proud” read one jacket, named after the Catholic spiritual retreat. “Knights on Bikes” is a Catholic motorcycle group with members from the Knights of Columbus.

John Clavijo, who has been to several of the biker mass events, waited with friends near his bike before the ride began. He said the annual group ride is a great way to merge his love for motorcycles with his Catholic faith.

“I guess I’m like a reborn guy,” said Clavijo. “Matching the bike riding with my spirituality ... It’s fun.”

Clavijo said it was the “Walk to Emmaus Retreat” that brought him back to his faith.

“I was going through some really bad times ... I was in a really depressed state,” he said. “This brought me back to life.”

All proceeds and donations from the ride will go toward St. Luke’s Center, an alcohol and drug recovery center that offers addiction treatment services and residential programs for adults. The center is operated by the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami.



“I’ve had people in church come up to me and tell me that St Luke’s helped their son or their brother. So it’s a very worthy ministry for helping people to conquer drug addiction and addiction to alcohol,” Wenski said.

As the pre-ride mass came to a close, Wenski brought local police and safety officers on stage to review some safety precautions for the ride. Later, he joked, that there are less police officers than expected because of President Trump’s arrival over the weekend.

“We don’t have as many as we’ve had in past years because the President arrived last night in Doral. I think he came to do some golfing or something.”

Wenski said he always had an interest in motorcycles as a child. But it wasn’t until the age of 50 that he began riding as a hobby. He said he remembers seeing a big group of bikers riding down I-95 in Broward one day coming home from a Haitian mass.

“I said ‘boy that looks like fun,’” Wenski said.

His first bike — sold to him by his lawyer friend who lives in Ocala — was a Honda Shadow. Wenski eventually sold it to buy a Harley Davidson and never looked back. He recalls some of his favorite moments riding around sunny South Florida, including 10 years ago when the Port of Miami Tunnel was first opening. He claims he was the first motorcycle rider to go through it.

“Right next to me was Commissioner Pepe Diaz, but I was a little bit ahead of him,” Wenski said with a laugh.

Earlier this month, the Archbishop rode over 300 miles on the west coast of Florida to Tampa for a retreat of Catholic Bishops in Florida. The highlight of that trip, he says, was riding over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa.

“It clears the cobwebs,” he said. “You’re concentrating on riding. So you don’t have to concentrate on those things that bug you and worry you all the time.”

Elizabeth Fox traveled from Delray Beach to join her boyfriend Robert Armand for the ride. Though Armand has participated in the ride in the past, it was Fox’s first time. But, she didn’t appear nervous at all.

“I’m very excited, it’s very fun. Listening to the Archbishop in there give mass was fabulous,” she said.

With her shirt still wet with droplets of holy water from the Archbishop’s blessing, Fox, who said she has been a Catholic all her life, was feeling grateful to be a part of the ride.

“It’s a beautiful day, they blessed us. It’s for a good cause. I hope that it all goes smoothly,” she said.

This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and from donors comprising the South Florida Jewish and Muslim Communities, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.