Archbishop Thomas Wenski of the Archdiocese of Miami released the following statement upon the announcement of Bishop Felipe Estevez as tenth bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine:

I congratulate Bishop Estevez on his appointment as the new Bishop of St. Augustine. He brings many gifts to Northeast Florida – as a priest, he has served as a pastor, spiritual director, seminary rector, and as a very effective preacher of retreats and missions in three languages: English, Spanish and French; as an auxiliary bishop, he has ably assisted my predecessor and now me in the governance of the See of Miami, especially providing wisdom and direction in the coordination of the rich expression of ecclesial groups and apostolic movements active in the Archdiocese.

St. Augustine, the city where the Servant of God, Padre Felix Varela, died in exile from his native Cuba, is not unknown to Bishop Estevez – he has had occasion to visit there many times; and not a few of the clergy of St. Augustine also know Bishop Estevez as a former rector and spiritual director of St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary.

While the People of God here in South Florida rejoice over Northeast Florida’s good fortune in having Bishop Estevez as their new shepherd, we will certainly miss him. Bishop Estevez has not only been a brother priest and bishop to me, he has, for more than 35 years, been and still is my good friend. I look forward to continue working with him as one of the six suffragan bishops of the Ecclesiastic Province of Miami.

Source: Archdiocese of Miami

From Right to Left: Bishop Felipe Estevez, Archbishop Thomas Wenski, Bishop John Noonan

This morning, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Miami Auxiliary Bishop Felipe Estevez, 65, as the tenth bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine, succeeding Bishop Victor Galeone whose resignation was submitted in September.

Bishop Estevez was born on February 5, 1946 in Betancourt, Cuba to Adriano and Estrella Estevez. Leaving Cuba at the age of 15, Estevez came to the United States and began studying for the priesthood. On May 30, 1970, Estevez was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Matanzas (Cuba) after receiving a Licentiate in Theology from Montreal University.

Throughout his priesthood, Bishop Estevez has mostly been involved with educating men for the priesthood. His first seminary assignment came shortly after being ordained, when he was sent to Honduras to teach and direct young men studying for the priesthood. In 1975 Estevez came back to the United States, serving on the faculty of Florida’s St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary.  During this time, he was attending Miami’s Barry University, receiving a Master in Arts degree in 1977.

Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine

According to local reports, a replacement for Bishop Victor Galeone will be announced tomorrow at Roman noontime. The Diocese of St. Augustine has scheduled a press conference for 10:30 a.m.

More in the morning!

Bishop John Ricard | Source: Divine Word Radio

On February 15, 2011, the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee reported that Bishop John Ricard had submitted his resignation to the Holy Father for medical reasons. You may recall, Bishop Ricard suffered a pretty serious stroke on December 22, 2009. According to diocesan officials, the bishop underwent multiple surgeries and intense physical rehabilitation in the weeks and months following his stroke.

Shortly after returning to a limited work schedule in January 2010, Ricard was rehospitalized after collapsing while celebrating a funeral Mass.

Truthfully, those of us throughout the state have been wondering when the bishop was going to submit his resignation to Pope Benedict XI. Despite our prayers and wishes for him to remain as the bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee, we have been expecting this for some time.

With this announcement, there are two bishops within the state that have submitted resignations to the Holy Father. Bishop Victor Galeone of the Diocese of Saint Augustine submitted his resignation upon turning 75 last September.

Along with the appointment of Archbishop Thomas Wenski as Metropolitan Archbishop of Miami and Bishop John Noonan as Bishop of Orlando, four out of the seven dioceses in the state have experienced leadership transitions in the last year. However, it doesn’t end there.