Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami

The first Catholic presence in the South Florida region was the establishment of a mission on Upper Matecumbe Key in the Florida Keys region by Spanish Jesuits in 1566. After several years of disease and turbulent relations with the Native American inhabitants, the missionaries returned to Spain.[14] Missions to the Keys were attempted again in 1724 and 1743, but both ended quickly in failure.[15]

In 1850, Bishop Francis X. Gartland of the Diocese of Savannah, which then had jurisdiction over Florida, sent John F. Kirby to Key West to tend to a growing Catholic community there. He constructed Saint Mary Star of the Sea Church there in 1852.[15]

–Gesù Church in Miami, found in 1896, is the oldest Catholic Church in South Florida outside of the Florida Keys.[16] The first Catholic church in Homestead was Sacred Heart, constructed in 1917.[17]

Before 1952, the entire State of Florida was under the jurisdiction of one diocese, the Diocese of Saint Augustine. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Saint Augustine bishop Joseph Patrick Hurley purchased land throughout South Florida in anticipation of a future population boom.[18] Dozens of Catholic churches, schools and cemeteries were built on land purchased by Hurley.[1]

Pope Pius XII erected the Diocese of Miami on October 7, 1958, naming Auxiliary Bishop Coleman Carroll from the Diocese of Pittsburgh as the first bishop of Miami. installed as bishop. On its formation, the new diocese included the 16 southern counties in Florida, with a Catholic population of approximately 200,000.

The Cuban Revolution in 1959 triggered a wave of Cuban immigration to South Florida, increasing the Catholic population in the region. Carroll established the Catholic Welfare Bureau to assist these immigrants. Between 1960 and 1962, the bureau ran a clandestine operation, Operation Pedro Pan, to bring 14,000 Cuban children to South Florida.

Cuban refugees arriving in crowded boats during the Mariel Boatlift crisis

On March 2, 1968, Pope Paul VI erected the Diocese of St. Petersburg and Orlando, taking eight counties from the Diocese of Miami. At the same time, the pope elevated the Diocese of Miami to the Archdiocese of Miami, naming Carroll as archbishop.[19]

During the American Civil Rights Movement of the 60's, Carroll was influential in stemming threatened racial riots in Miami. He racially desegregated the Catholic schools in the archdiocese ten years before any other Catholic diocese in Florida.[20][21] Carroll was a co-founder of the Community Relations Board, which worked to "quell waves of misunderstanding, discrimination and discontent which often threatened to flood South Florida's multi-ethnic community."[20]

After Carroll died 1977, Paul VI named Bishop Edward McCarthy as Miami's archbishop.[22][23] McCarthy oversaw the construction in Miami Shores of the Pastoral Center - Florida Catholic for the archdiocese and restructured most senior operational divisions. He established the Office of Lay Ecclesial Ministry, the Office of Evangelization and the permanent diaconate program. In 1980, he offered support and assistance to Cuban refugees during the Mariel Boat Lift. The following year, he supported the rights of Haitian immigrants who were detained by the US Immigration Service under the Wet Foot, Dry Foot policy. Responding to the needs of this new immigration, he opened the Pierre Toussaint Haitian Catholic Center in Miami.[23][24] McCarthy retired in 1994 at the required retirement age of 75.[1]

On November 3, 1994, Pope John Paul II appointed Bishop John C. Favalora of the Diocese of St. Petersburg as the third archbishop of Miami. During his tenure, Favalora built two new high schools and nine grade schools. Favalora also initiated the Vision 2000 campaign, a five-year fundraising campaign to support Catholic education and outreach institutions in the archdiocese. The effort raised $90 million.[1]

On July 11, 2003, John Paul II appointed Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Wenski of Miami to lead the Diocese of Orlando.[25][26] With substantial immigration of predominantly Catholic South and Central Americans to the South Florida area, the Catholic population there is 25% of the total population. Waves of immigrants from other parts of the world, including Asian and African countries, have led to mass being celebrated in over a dozen different languages in parishes throughout the archdiocese.[1][27]

In 2009, Fernando Isern of Our Lady of Lourdes, Kendall, was named the next bishop of Pueblo. He is the 11th priest from the archdiocese to be so designated since its creation in 1958.[28]

On April 20, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI accepted Favarola's resignation and appointed Bishop Thomas Wenski of the Diocese of Orlando as his successor.[29] On June 1, 2010, Wenski was installed as the fourth archbishop of Miami at the Cathedral of Saint Mary.[30] As of 2023, Wenski is the current archbishop

On March 15, 2019, Homestead priest Jean Claude Jean-Philippe was arrested on charges of drugging and raping a female parishioner who he invited to his home the previous October.[31]

1. Coleman Carroll (1958–1977), elevated to Archbishop in 1968
2. Edward Anthony McCarthy (1977–1994)
3. John Favalora (1994–2010)
4. Thomas Wenski (2010–present)

• René Gracida (1968–1975), appointed Bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee and later Bishop of Corpus Christi
• John Nevins (1979–1984), appointed Bishop of Venice
• Agustin Roman (1979–2013)
• Norbert Dorsey (1986–1990), appointed Bishop of Orlando
• Gilberto Fernandez (1997–2002)
• Thomas Wenski (1997–2003), appointed Coadjutor Bishop and later Bishop of Orlando and Archbishop of Miami
• Felipe Estévez (2004–2011), appointed Bishop of Saint Augustine
• John Noonan (2005–2010), appointed Bishop of Orlando
• John Fitzpatrick (1968–1971), appointed Bishop of Brownsville
• Peter Baldacchino (2014–2019), appointed Bishop of Las Cruces
• Enrique Esteban Delgado (2017–present)

• Ambrose De Paoli, appointed Apostolic Nuncio and Titular Archbishop in 1983
• Fernando Isern, appointed Bishop of Pueblo in 2009
• Robert Nugent Lynch, appointed Bishop of Saint Petersburg in 1995

As of 2008, the Archdiocese of Miami had an enrollment of 40,000 students in 60 elementary/middle schools, 13 high schools and two non-residential schools for the disabled.[6]

The archdiocese offers religious education classes for children who do not attend Catholic schools. As of 2007, these classes had an enrollment of 95,837 students.[6] They were taught by 2,760 lay people, 58 religious sisters, and 43 priests and religious brothers.[6] In 1997, Favalora started requiring all volunteers, employees, teachers and priests working with children to be fingerprinted and undergo a background check.[33]

The archdiocese also offers adult religious education classes.

The Archdiocese of Miami oversees and administers St. Thomas University in Miami. St. Thomas offers Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, Master's degree, Master of Business Administration, M.Acc., Doctor of Education, and Doctor of Philosophy programs through its college and schools. It offers several joint degree programs and an accelerated B.A./J.D. as well. The School of Law at St. Thomas was fully accredited by the American Bar Association in February 1995, and offers the Juris Doctor degree (J.D.) as well as the Masters of Law (LL.M).[2]

St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami

St. John Vianney College Seminary and Graduate School – Miami. The seminary is sponsored by the archdiocese. It offers a two-year pre-theology program for candidates with a bachelor's degree. St. John Vianney also offers a four-year Bachelor of Philosophy program for those without a college degree, all in preparation for the priesthood. It also provides language immersion programs.[34]

St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary – Boynton Beach. The seminary is sponsored by all the Catholic dioceses in Florida. It offers a master's degree in Theology and Theological Studies and a First Professional Degree in Divinity and Ministry.[35][4]

Redemptoris Mater Seminary – Hialeah. This is a diocesan seminary whose graduates are assigned by the archbishop to parish or missionary assignments. Its seminarians attend classes at St. John Vianney or St. Vincent de Paul.

Lay men and women operate over 60 movements and ministries for the archdiocese. "There may be hundreds more ..." according to Miami auxiliary bishop Felipe Estevez.[46] As of 2007, these ministries included:

• Airport Ministry
• Apostleship of the Sea
• Ascending Life
• Campus ministry
• Charismatic Renewal
• Courage Ministry ("Ministry to persons with same-sex attraction")
• Council of Catholic Women
• Cursillo
• Family Life
• Knights of Columbus
• Lay ministry
• Lay movements
• Marian movements
• Missions
• Prison ministry
• Respect Life
• Youth Ministries[47]

The archdiocese also helps support two crisis pregnancy centers. The archdiocese also supports a post-abortion counseling program called Project Rachel.[48][49]

Camillus House in inner city Miami is one of four shelters operated by the charity.

Morning Star Renewal Center in Pinecrest is a retreat house operated by lay people for the archdiocese.[50] The center provides group retreats and offers spiritual formation activities.[51]

• Camillus House[7]
• Catholic Legal Services[8]
• HIV/AIDS shelter[9]
• Missionaries of Charity[10]
• Society of Saint Vincent de Paul[12]
• social advocacy groups[11]

• Radio Paz is a Spanish-language AM station founded in 1990. It is broadcast on WACC 830 AM.
• Radio Peace iis an English-language AM station founded in 1993. It is broadcast on WLVJ 1040 AM. .[52]

The two radio stations were founded by Federico Capdepon, who envisioned a radio station "to respond to the call of Pope John Paul II to evangelize through the media."[5][53] These stations also broadcast over the Internet at RadioPeace.org

The Florida Catholic newspaper

A localized version of the Florida Catholic newspaper is published 26 times a year. Each issue contains a message from the Archbishop, spiritual reflections on the scripture readings for the week, news reporting on various events happening around the archdiocese and the world, and a digest of upcoming events featured around the archdiocese among other features. The newspaper is also published online. A series produced for the Miami edition entitled "Building the City of God" which profiles the personal side of priests won a Communicator Award of Distinction for print media "Marketing/Promotion/Campaign".[54][55]

The archdiocese produces English and Spanish masses to air on Sundays on local television stations. Additionally, the television center produces content for the Internet and video.[56] One video, entitled "Walking in the Light of Christ," received a Videographer Award of Excellence from the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals.[57][58]