Cuban-born Florida priest named auxiliary bishop of Miami

Published: 2003-11-21

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II has named Cuban-born Msgr. Felipe de Jesus Estevez, spiritual director at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Fla., to be an auxiliary bishop of Miami. The appointment was announced in Washington Nov. 21 by Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, apostolic nuncio to the United States. At a press conference in Miami, Bishop-designate Estevez said he was humbled by the appointment and also called it an undeserved honor. "I understand the ministry of bishops as a call to participate more deeply in the love of Christ for his church. It is a kind of love that involves a very real participation in the mystery of the cross," he added. The 57-year-old bishop-designate has spent the past 28 years of his ministry in the Miami Archdiocese. Born in Cuba on Feb. 5, 1946, he was ordained in 1970 and carried out his priestly ministry in Honduras until 1975. He was incardinated into the Miami Archdiocese in February 1979. His appointment brings the count of active U.S. Hispanic bishops to 25.

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