Four months after getting the call, the new Bishop for the Pensacola-Tallahassee Catholic Diocese is on the job. WUWF’s Dave Dunwoody recently sat down with Bishop William Wack at the Diocese’s Pensacola Pastoral Center.
Back in May, Father Bill was at his parish – St. Ignatius in Austin, Texas – working on the building’s air conditioning system after a lightning strike. Then his phone rang.
That phone call would change his life.
“He announced that ‘Pope Francis has chosen you to be the bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee,’” Wack recalled. “I asked a lot of questions and he finally said ‘you ask a lot of questions, but the Pope needs an answer. Please say yes.’ And I said ‘yes, yes I will.’ And that was it.”
Wack would succeed Bishop Gregory Parkes, who’s now leading the Diocese of St. Petersburg. In every diocese there are lists of priests considered to be potential bishops. Those names are given to the Nuncio – the ambassador for the Pope who’s in Washington, D.C.
After his installation last month at the Pensacola Bay Center, Wack inherits a unique diocese – 57 parishes spread out over the 200 miles between Pensacola and Tallahassee. He hopes to bring what he calls a “renewed energy.”
“This love of preaching, and teaching as well – I want to do that,” Wack said. “I don’t have any delusions thinking, ‘I’m coming in to change things’ because I am standing on the very tall shoulders of Bishop Parkes – he’s about 6-8 – and the work before him of Bishop [John] Ricard, and so many good bishops and good leaders who have done great things.”
Along with concerns inside the diocese are those nationally and globally. Wack lists immigration, the debate over Confederate monuments, and North Korea. He says he and his new flock can bring local flair to those issues.
“If you think about it, they’re all beyond us, they’re above us,” Wack said. “But, I can start to have conversations with people – my neighbors – and get people to talk about that here.”
Bishop Wack recently has returned from Rome, where he and other “Baby Bishops” met for a week, and had a chance to meet Pope Francis.
“He spoke to us for 20 minutes about how a good bishop is humble, [and] is a servant,” said Wack. He said if you think you’re a king or you’re in charge of this place he said, in Spanish, ‘contra Dios;’ you are ‘against God.’ It made an impression on all of us.”
Then it was time for a brief one-on-one with the Pontiff.
“I thought ‘what am I going to do, what am I going to do?’” said Wack. “And I just looked at him and said ‘Heyyyyy, Santo Padre! [Holy Father!]’ And it so surprised him that he looked at me and said ‘Heyyy’ and put out his arms and we just had a great chat for a little less than a minute.”
“But he asked about this church; he asked about Florida in light of [Hurricane Irma]. He said he was very concerned and was praying for us.”
At age 50, Wack ascends to bishop as a relatively young man. Gregory Parkes was 48 when he was named bishop in 2012. And both went straight from priest to bishop, without having served as a monsignor.
“I questioned the fact that I went from being pastor to the bishop of a diocese,” said Wack. “So, I may have missed out on some of the lessons you would learn along the way. At the same time, I don’t have to do this by myself. We are a church; I’m doing it in harmony with everyone else around me.
When “Bishop Bill” got the call, he ran the gamut from fear and uncertainty, to even some self-pity about leaving Austin. But between then and his ordination, he says those emotions were replaced by the excitement of serving what he considers a larger church.
“What I’ve learned about this diocese; it’s diverse, it’s big, and there’s a lot of possibilities and potential,” Wack said. “Not only did I kind of acquiesced the decision, but I’m more excited than ever now to be here.”
