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From the Pastor’s Desk
This Wednesday, March 11 is the 150th Anniversary of the establishment of the Diocese of St. Augustine.
During the time of the First Vatican Council, Bishop Augustin Verot petitioned the Holy See to create the new
diocese in the territory of Florida. He had served as the leader of the Vicariate Apostolic of Florida from 1857 and,
only a few years later, was appointed as the third Bishop of Savannah in July 1861. (Verot retained his
responsibilities for Florida while Bishop of Savannah.)
Verot had previously asked Archbishop Martin Spalding of Baltimore in 1866 that Florida be erected as a
full-fledged diocese. In that letter he wrote:
“St. Augustine has many titles of honor of being an episcopal see. It is the oldest City in the United States;
the population is almost exclusively Catholic….The only reason I know against the expediency of raising St.
Augustine to an episcopal see is that the City is not populous…and is exceedingly poor…. Things however
may improve.”
When one looks around Florida now, it’s hard to imagine how desolate and poor it was in the middle of the
19th century. Obviously, things did improve!
This Wednesday evening, please join us for two events to celebrate this anniversary. At 6:00 p.m., Bishop
Estevez will preside at Solemn Vespers in the Cathedral. That will be followed at 7:00 p.m. with a presentation by
Church historian Father Michael McNally. He has written a new book on our Diocese’s second bishop, John Moore,
and Fr. McNally will compare the episcopal leadership of Bishops Verot and Moore.
Love,
Fr. Tom