Archdiocese of Miami Archidioecesis Miamiensis Arquidiócesis de Miami Achidyosèz Miami | |
|---|---|
 Cathedral of Saint Mary | |
 Coat of arms | |
| Location | |
| Country |  United States |
| Territory | Miami-Dade,Broward andMonroe counties in the state ofFlorida |
| Ecclesiastical province | Province of Miami |
| Statistics | |
Population
|
|
| Parishes | 109 |
| Schools | 62 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | October 7, 1958; 67 years ago (1958-10-07) |
| Cathedral | Cathedral of Saint Mary |
| Patron saint | Our Lady of theImmaculate Conception |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Leo XIV |
| Archbishop | Thomas Wenski |
| Auxiliary Bishops | Enrique Esteban Delgado |
| Judicial Vicar | Father Emmanuel Essiet |
| Bishops emeritus | John Favalora |
| Map | |
 | |
| Website | |
| miamiarch.org | |
TheArchdiocese of Miami (Latin:Archidioecesis Miamiensis,Spanish:Arquidiócesis de Miami,Haitian Creole:Achidyosèz Miami) is a Latin Church archdiocese of theCatholic Church inSouth Florida in the United States. It is themetropolitan see for theEcclesiastical Province of Miami, which covers all of Florida. The Archdiocese of Miami contains the Florida countiesBroward,Miami-Dade andMonroe.
Formed in 1958, the archdiocese gained many Cuban members following theCuban Revolution in 1959. Starting in the late 1990s or early 2000s it has faced asexual abuse scandal in which at least 90 minors made claims of sexual abuse as of 2003.
The archdiocese operates two hospitals and other healthcare facilities. It runs 60 elementary or middle schools, 13 high schools, and two universities. It celebratesmass in at least a dozen languages.
TheCathedral of Saint Mary is the mother church of the archdiocese. The archbishop of Miami isThomas Wenski.
As of 2021, the Catholic population in the archdiocese was approximately 824,000, served by 271 priests in 102 parishes.[1]
Priests in the archdiocese celebratemass in at least a dozen languages.[2] The archdiocese operates two schools for the disabled, sixty elementary/middle schools, thirteen high schools, two universities, and two seminaries.[3][4] The archdiocese operates radio, print, and television media outlets.[5]
The first Catholics in Eastern Florida were a group of SpanishJesuits who founded a mission in 1566 onUpper Matecumbe Key in theFlorida Keys. After several years of disease and turbulent relations with the Native American inhabitants, the missionaries returned to Spain.[6]
By 1606, Florida was under the jurisdiction of theArchdiocese of Havana in Cuba. After the end of theFrench and Indian War in 1763, Spain ceded all of Florida to Great Britain for the return ofCuba. Given the antagonism ofProtestant Great Britain to Catholicism, the majority of the Catholic population in Florida fled to Cuba.[7] After theAmerican Revolution, Spain regained control of Florida in 1784.[8] In 1793, the Vatican changed the jurisdiction for Florida Catholics from Havana to the Apostolic Vicariate of Louisiana and the Two Floridas, based inNew Orleans.[9] In theAdams–Onís Treaty of 1819, Spain ceded all of Florida to the United States, which established theFlorida Territory in 1821.[10]
In 1825,Pope Leo XII erected the Vicariate of Alabama and Florida, which included all of Florida, based inMobile, Alabama.[9] In 1858, Pius IX moved Florida into a new Apostolic Vicariate of Florida and named BishopAugustin Verot as vicar apostolic.[11] In 1870, Pius IX elevated the Vicariate of Florida into the Diocese of St. Augustine and named Vérot as its first bishop.[12] The new diocese covered all of Florida except for theFlorida Panhandle region.
In 1850, BishopFrancis X. Gartland of Savannah sent the priest John F. Kirby toKey West to tend to a growing Catholic community there. He foundedSaint Mary Star of the Sea Church in Key West in 1852.[13] Gesù Parish in Miami, founded in 1896, was the first parish in South Florida outside of the Florida Keys.[14] The first Catholic church inHomestead was Sacred Heart, built in 1917.[15]
In the 1950s and early 1960s, St. Augustine bishopJoseph Hurley purchased land throughout South Florida in anticipation of a future population boom.[16] Dozens of Catholic churches, schools and cemeteries were later built on land purchased by Hurley.[2]
Pope Pius XII erected the Diocese of Miami on October 7, 1958, naming Auxiliary BishopColeman Carroll from theDiocese of Pittsburgh as the firstbishop of Miami. On its formation, the new diocese included the 16 southern counties in Florida, with a Catholic population of approximately 200,000.
TheCuban 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.
On March 2, 1968,Pope Paul VI erected theDioceses of St. Petersburg andOrlando, 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.[17]
During theAmerican Civil Rights Movement of the 60's, Carroll was influential in stemming threatened racial riots in Miami. Hedesegregated the Catholic schools in the archdiocese ten years before any other diocese in Florida.[18][19] 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."[18]
After Carroll died 1977, Paul VI named BishopEdward McCarthy as Miami's archbishop.[20][21] 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 ofLay Ecclesial Ministry, the Office ofEvangelization and thepermanent diaconate program. In 1980, he offered support and assistance to Cuban refugees during theMariel Boat Lift. The following year, he supported the rights ofHaitian immigrants who were detained by theUS Immigration Service under theWet Foot, Dry Foot policy. Responding to the needs of this new immigration, McCarthy opened the Pierre Toussaint Haitian Catholic Center in Miami.[21][22] McCarthy retired in 1994.[2]
On November 3, 1994,Pope John Paul II appointed BishopJohn C. Favalora 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 Vision 2000, a five-year fundraising campaign to support Catholic education and outreach institutions in the archdiocese. Vision 2000 raised $90 million.[2]
On July 11, 2003, John Paul II appointed Auxiliary BishopThomas Wenski of Miami to lead theDiocese of Orlando.[23][24] With substantial immigration of predominantly Catholic South and Central Americans to the South Florida area, the Catholic population reached 25% of the total population of South Florida. Waves of immigrants from other parts of the world, including Asia and Africa, led to priests celebrating mass in over a dozen different languages.[2][25]
In 2009, the Vatican named ReverendFernando Isern, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish inKendall, as the next bishop of theDiocese of Pueblo. He was the 11th archdiocesan priest to become bishop since 1958.[26]
On April 20, 2010,Pope Benedict XVI accepted Favarola's resignation and appointed BishopThomas Wenski of Orlando as his successor.[27] On June 1, 2010, Wenski was installed as the fourth archbishop of Miami at the Cathedral of Saint Mary.[28]
As of 2024, the Archdiocese of Miami had an enrollment of 35,000 students in 68 schools and four dedicated pre-schools.[4]
| High school | Opened | District | City |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archbishop Coleman F. Carroll High School | 1998 | The Hammocks | Unincorporated area |
| Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy High School | 1998 | Southwest Ranches | |
| Belen Jesuit Preparatory School | 1854 | Tamiami | Miami |
| Cardinal Gibbons High School | 1961 | Fort Lauderdale | |
| Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart | 1961 | Coconut Grove | Miami |
| Chaminade-Madonna College Preparatory School | 1960 | Hollywood | |
| Christopher Columbus High School | 1958 | Westchester | Unincorporated area |
| Immaculata-LaSalle High School | 1958 | Coconut Grove | Miami |
| Monsignor Edward Pace High School | 1961 | Miami Gardens | |
| Our Lady of Lourdes Academy | 1963 | Ponce-Davis | |
| St. Brendan High School | 1975 | Westchester | Unincorporated area |
| St. Thomas Aquinas High School | 1936 | Fort Lauderdale |
The archdiocese offers religious education classes for children who attend public or private schools. In 1997, Favalora started requiring all volunteers, employees, teachers and priests working with children to befingerprinted and undergo a background check.[29] The archdiocese also offers adult religious education classes.
The Archdiocese of Miami administersSt. Thomas University in Miami. In 1961, a group of Augustinian priests arrived in Miami after being expelled from Cuba after theCuban Revolution. They founded Biscayne College, which the archdiocese took over in 1988 and renamed St. Thomas University.[30]
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. 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) degrees.[31]
In 1940, the Dominican sisters, along with BishopPatrick Berry of St. Augustine, foundedBarry College for women in Miami Shores. It became Barry University in 1981[30]
St. John Vianney College Seminary and Graduate School in Miami is sponsored by the archdiocese. It offers a two-year pre-theology program for seminarians with a bachelor's degree. St. John Vianney also offers aBachelor of Philosophy program for seminarians lacking a college degree. It also provides language immersion programs.[32]
St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach is sponsored by all the Florida dioceses. It offers a master's degree in Theology and Theological Studies and a First Professional Degree in Divinity and Ministry.[33][34]
Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary inHialeah 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.[3]
Catholic Charities of Miami is a separate non-profit organization operated by the Archdiocese of Miami. It is part of a national network of Catholic Charities operated in each diocese. In 2007, Catholic Charities of Miami claimed to be the largest nongovernmental provider of services to the needy in South Florida.[35]
Catholic Charities of Miami was founded in 1931 during theGreat Depression with four Miami-area pastors andlay members of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul.[36]
Catholic Health Services operates 26 facilities in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties for the archdiocese. These included HCA Florida Mercy Hospital in Miami and Holy Cross Hospital in Ft. Lauderdale.[37]
Catholic Hospice is a partnership between the archdiocese and Mercy Hospital. It provides end of life care to terminally ill patients and their families in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.[38]
Catholic Cemeteries operates two cemeteries:
Lay men and women operate over 60 movements and ministries for the archdiocese. The archdiocese also helps support what it terms ascrisis pregnancy centers, along with a post-abortion counseling program through Project Rachel, an anti-abortion initiative of theUS Conference of Catholic Bishops.[40]
Morning Star Renewal Center inPinecrest is a retreat house operated by lay people for the archdiocese. The center provides group retreats and offers spiritual formation activities.[41]
The Archdiocese promotes support for South Florida charities through an annual "ABCD" - Archbishop's Charities and Development Drive - campaign.[47]
Radio Paz is a Spanish-language AM station founded in 1990. It is broadcast on WACC 830 AM.[48]
The archdiocese publishes a localized version of theFlorida Catholic newspaper every two weeks. 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.Florida Catholic is also published online.
Florida Catholic produced a series entitled "Building the City of God", which profiles the personal side of priests. It won a Communicator Award of Distinction for print media "Marketing/Promotion/Campaign".[49]
The archdiocese produces English and Spanish masses to air on local television stations, along with content for the Internet and video.[50]
Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Miami | |
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25°51′06″N80°12′03″W / 25.851731°N 80.200796°W /25.851731; -80.200796
