Former 'Pedro Pan' To Be Installed New Bishop Of St. Augustine

JACKSONVILLE (CBS4) – An auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Miami will become the new head of the Diocese of St. Augustine Thursday afternoon.

Monsignor Felipe Estevez, a Roman Catholic priest who left Cuba for the U.S. as part of "Operation Pedro Pan" was named the bishop for the Diocese of St. Augustine in April.

The Rev. Thomas G. Wenski, archbishop of Miami, will install Bishop-designate Estevez in the Mass of Thanksgiving at 2:00 p.m. Thursday at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Jacksonville.

Estevez has been auxiliary bishop at the Miami archdiocese since 2004. Estevez was born in Cuba in 1946. He was 15 when he came to the United States as part of Operation Pedro Pan, the U.S. led effort in the early 60s which brought 14,000 Cuban children to Miami. The Archdiocese of Miami found homes for the youth until they could be reunited with their families.

He was ordained a priest in 1970 and joined the Archdiocese of Miami in 1979.

Estevez succeeds Bishop Victor Galeone, who reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 for Roman Catholic bishops last September.

The St. Augustine Diocese serves about 171,000 Catholics in 17 counties.