When Bishop Felipe J. Estévez was growing up in Cuba, he thought he would pursue a career as an engineer and get married.
“God had other plans,” he said.
Those plans led Estévez to be named in 2011 to lead the Diocese of St. Augustine and its 171,000 registered Catholics.
A young Estévez, a native of Havana, became involved in his church in Cuba. His pastor invited him to become a priest.
He came to the states through Operation Pedro Pan, which brought 14,000 unaccompanied minors from Cuba in a two-year period. He heard the calling while in the United States as a junior in high school in Indiana.
Estévez earned a degree in theology from Montreal University in Canada and was ordained to the priesthood in 1970 at age 24 in Fort Wayne, Ind., for the Diocese of Matanzas, Cuba.
He wanted to return to Cuba to serve. “That never happened,” he said.
Instead, Estévez, now 68, went on to earn a Master of Arts degree in 1977 from Barry University in Miami and a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1980 in Rome.
His priestly ministry began in Honduras from 1970-75, and he then served in Boynton Beach from 1975-86 and Miami from 1987-2001.
From 2001-03, he served as spiritual director of St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, where he had served as rector from 1980-86. He was named pastor of St. Agatha Parish in Miami for 14 years while also directing campus ministry at Florida International University.
His service as a bishop began with his November 2003 appointment and January 2004 ordination as auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Miami. In 2010, he was appointed vicar general. That executive position assists the bishop in governing the diocese.
Estévez said he had not suspected he would be called to serve as bishop in the Diocese of St. Augustine. He was in Minneapolis when he received the call that Pope Benedict XVI wanted him in the position to succeed the retiring Bishop Victor Galeone.
“I immediately said yes,” Estévez said. “I was on cloud nine.”
He was familiar with the diocese, especially considering he chose St. Augustine for his retreat after he was ordained to the episcopacy in Miami.
“Little did I know that 10 years later, I would become bishop here.”
Estévez found that the area reflects the South more than South Florida, which is more cosmopolitan. Here, he said, “there is a gentleness and friendliness.”
The Diocese of St. Augustine comprises 17 counties in Northeast and North Central Florida from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean. It includes 60 parishes and missions, four high schools, 25 elementary schools and one special education school.
Estévez is particularly interested in the 450th anniversary of the city of St. Augustine, which is celebrating its status as America’s first city, established in 1565.
The diocese reports that on Sept. 8, 1565, a small band of Spaniards celebrated Mass on the shores of North Florida in preparation for starting a settlement there.
They named their new home St. Augustine in honor of the saint on whose feast day they sighted land. Today, St. Augustine is known as the site of the first permanent parish church — the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine.
In March 1870, Florida, east of the Apalachicola River, was designated as the Diocese of St. Augustine. The first bishop elected was Hispanic. “It formed a lot of roots,” Estévez said.
Pope Francis has been invited to attend next year’s anniversary events.
Estévez, in the position for three years, starts his day at 4:30 a.m. or 5 a.m. He exercises and takes his daily walk while praying the Rosary. He writes from 5-9 a.m. to prepare for the five to seven homilies and speeches he gives throughout the week.
Then he comes into his office at the Catholic Center at 11625 Old St. Augustine Road in Mandarin, where he reviews correspondence and meets with his advisers and his vicar general. In the afternoons and evenings, he attends to business and visits parishes, groups and families. He also has Mass with seminarians.
In addition, Estévez travels, including a trip to Rome for the canonization of Pope John Paul II, and he serves on several committees and boards. He was a founding member of “Operation Pedro Pan” in 1960 and remains involved.
He is fluent in English, Spanish, French and Italian.
Fridays are his day off, when he works on personal correspondence, reads, sees movies after a good deal of research and visits with friends and family.
The second of three children, he visits with his older brother, younger sister and their 91-year-old mother, all living in St. Petersburg. His father is deceased. He also has visited Cuba several times.
Estévez held nine listening sessions when he arrived to his post and led “a very rigorous process” to gather data to help guide his focus. His pastoral letter to the Diocese of St. Augustine in March 2013 was titled “Come, Live in the Light!” Its three goals are to proclaim the Gospel to share the faith; enrich parish life to live the faith; and engage young adults to build the faith.
Among his goals is to see the Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche in St. Augustine reach more people. “Our Lady of La Leche is a beautiful image that affirms women and children,” he said.
Estévez has seven years before he must submit his resignation at the age of 75.
“I am thrilled to be a bishop,” he said. “It was such a joy when I received the call.”
And the calling.
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