User:DOSA Catholic/Bishop Felipe de Jesús Estévez

Felipe de Jesús Estévez (born February 5, 1946) is the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine in Florida beginning Tuesday, June 1, 2011. He was formerly the Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami.

Early life and ordination
Estévez was born in Pedro Betancourt, Matanzas, Cuba. He fled to the United States as a young man under Operation Peter Pan. He is the second of three children (two boys and a girl) of Adriano and Estrella Estevez. He studied at Montreal University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and received a Licentiate in Theology in 1970. He was ordained a priest on May 30, 1970.

In 1977, he received a Master in Arts from Barry University, Miami Shores, Florida (1977) and in 1980, a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy. He is fluent in Spanish, English, French and Italian.

Ministry
Estévez was sent to Honduras first as a priest than as a faculty member to two seminaries (1970–1975). He later joined the faculty at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida (1975–77) and from 1980–1986, he was the President/Rector of St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary.

He then became the campus minister at Florida International University, Miami, Florida (1987–2001) and then the pastor of St. Agatha Church located next to the Florida International University (1987–2001). He then returned to St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary as the Dean of Spiritual Formation (2001–03).

Auxiliary Bishop of Miami
He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Miami and Titular Bishop of Kearney on November 21, 2003. On January 7, 2004, he was consecrated as bishop at the Cathedral of St. Mary by Archbishop John Clement Favalora of the Archdiocese of Miami and his co-consecrators were Archbishop Pedro Claro Meurice Estiu of the Archdiocese of Santiago de Cuba and Bishop Thomas James Olmsted of the Diocese of Phoenix.

Bishop of St. Augustine
Pope Benedict XVI appointed Estévez to succeed the retiring Bishop Victor Benito Galeone, in 2011. The appointment was announced in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, April 27, 2011 by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States church, and was published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He was installed as Bishop of St. Augustine at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Mandarin (Jacksonville) Florida. The installation was attended by over 2,000 Catholics including lay people, deacons, priests, and Bishops from around the country and was broadcast on the Catholic news network, EWTN.

Bishop Estèvez hopes to connect especially with the Hispanics in his diocese, who make up about 7 percent of the population there. Estevez indicated that his main priority will be evangelization, focusing on reaching out to youth and "estranged" Catholics. Estevez wants to encourage the clergy to inject more joy and energy into church services so as to make parishes more welcoming to those who want to return to the church. He also wants to educate Catholics about how to embrace and express their faith to the fullest. The bishop is an active opponent of the death penalty and legal abortion, routinely meeting with legislators, writing policy papers and delivering speeches; he has also been an advocate for the rights of the disabled and immigrants.

Bishop Estevez is very ecumenical in relations with other Christian ecclesial communities, working to foster Christian unity in northeast Florida. He initiated the first-ever ecumenical Vespers at the bishop-level in Florida on January 22, 2014, at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine. Among the Christian leaders attending were bishops of the AME, Episcopal, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Greek Orthodox, and representatives of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, and the executive director of the Florida Council of Churches. Attending were also clergy and lay leaders from various Christian churches from Northeast Florida. (For names and photos of participating Christian leaders, see: http://ecumenicalvespers.info.) He was present at the installation of ELCA Bishop Robert Schaefer near Tampa, FL. He collaborated with local Orthodox leaders in support of the meeting between Pope Francis and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Jerusalem on May 25, 2014.

Episcopal succession
Category:1946 births Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Saint Augustine Category:21st-century Roman Catholic bishops Category:20th-century Roman Catholic priests Category:Living people Category:Florida International University people Category:Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami Category:Cuban religious leaders Category:Cuban Roman Catholics Category:Université de Montréal alumni Category:Barry University alumni Category:Pontifical North American College alumni Category:Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Category:St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary alumni