text: roman catholic archdiocese of miami the archdiocese of miami is a particular church of the roman catholic church in the united states of america . its ecclesiastic territory includes broward , miami - dade , and monroe counties in the u.s. state of florida . the archdiocese is the metropolitan see for the ecclesiastical province of miami , which covers florida . the archbishop is thomas wenski . as archbishop , he also serves as pastor of the cathedral of saint mary , the mother church of the archdiocese . also serving are 428 priests , 160 permanent deacons , 50 religious brothers and 300 religious sisters who are members of various religious institutes . these priests , deacons and persons religious serve a catholic population in south florida of 1 , 300 , 000 in 118 parishes and missions . because of the vast number of immigrants , mass is offered in at least a dozen languages in parishes throughout the archdiocese . educational institutions consist of two schools for the disabled , 60 elementary / middle schools , 13 high schools , two universities , and two seminaries . radio , print , and television media outlets owned and operated by the archdiocese supplement teaching , communication , and ministries . several social service organizations are operated by the archdiocese which include two hospitals , nine health care centers , three homes for the aged , and two cemeteries . charities include homeless shelters , legal services for the poor , an hiv / aids ministry , and the missionaries of charity and society of saint vincent de paul ministries to the poor . catholic charities of the archdiocese of miami is a separate non - profit organization operated by the archdiocese . it claims to be the largest non - governmental provider of social services to the needy in south florida . history before 1952 , the entire state of florida was under the jurisdiction of one diocese , the roman catholic 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 . today , these once remote areas are thriving cities . dozens of catholic churches , schools and cemeteries built on the land purchased by hurley dot these areas . the diocese of miami was created on october 7 , 1958 , with coleman carroll installed as bishop . the diocese included the 16 southern counties in florida , with a catholic population of 200 , 000 . it encompassed one half of the area of the state . less than a year after the creation of the diocese , fidel castro came to power in cuba . this set off a mass exodus of cuban exiles to south florida , increasing church membership in the region . the catholic welfare bureau , created by carroll , played a significant part in helping these waves of cuban immigrants . between 1960 and 1962 , 14 , 000 cuban children were sent to the united states . operation pedro pan , created by monsignor bryan o. walsh , placed them with friends , relatives or the catholic welfare bureau . in 1996 , the catholic welfare bureau changed its name to catholic charities . today it claims to be the largest non - governmental provider of social services in south florida . it served over 17 , 000 families in the tri - county area of broward , dade and monroe counties in 2006 . due to an increased population , the diocese was divided in 1968 . eight counties became part of the diocese of st. petersburg and the new diocese of orlando . miami was made an archdiocese by pope paul vi , and was named metropolitan see for all of florida . carroll became an archbishop on march 2 , 1968 . he participated in the church reforms of vatican ii as one of the council fathers . during the civil rights struggles of the 60 's , carroll was influential in stemming threatened racial riots in miami and in desegregating catholic schools roughly 10 years before the rest of the state . he became a 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 . " upon the death of carroll on july 26 , 1977 , bishop edward anthony mccarthy was appointed as miami 's archbishop . mccarthy oversaw the construction of the pastoral center for the archdiocese and restructured most senior operational divisions . he established the office of lay ministry , the office of evangelization and the permanent program . in 1980 , he offered support and assistance during the mariel boat lift . the following year , he supported the rights of haitian immigrants who were detained under the wet foot , dry foot policy . responding to the needs of this new immigration , he opened the pierre toussaint haitian catholic center . mccarthy retired in 1994 at the required age of 75 . on november 3 , 1994 , pope john paul ii appointed john c. favalora as the third archbishop of miami . during his tenure , he built two new high schools and nine grade schools . favalora also initiated the vision 2000 campaign , a five - year fundraising campaign that created an endowment fund to support catholic education and outreach institutions in the archdiocese . the effort raised $ 90 million ( usd ) . on july 11 , 2003 , pope john paul ii appointed miami auxiliary bishop thomas gerard wenski to lead the roman catholic diocese of orlando . 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 . in 2009 , father fernando , 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 . on april 20 , 2010 , pope benedict xvi accepted the resignation of archbishop john favalora eight months early and appointed bishop thomas wenski of the roman catholic diocese of orlando as his successor . on june 1 , 2010 , archbishop wenski was installed as the fourth archbishop of the archdiocese of miami at the cathedral of saint mary . education schools as of 2008 , the archdiocese of miami provides a parochial school education to almost 40 , 000 students in 60 elementary / middle schools , 13 high schools and two non - residential schools for the disabled located throughout broward , miami - dade and monroe counties . the high schools supported by the archdiocese are : the archdiocese offers religious education classes in all of its 111 parishes for children who attend public and other non - religious schools . according to the 2007 official catholic directory , there were 95 , 837 students enrolled in these classes . this same source lists as teachers laity , 58 religious sisters , and 43 priests and religious brothers . religious education classes are also offered to adults throughout the archdiocese . in 1997 , archbishop favalora adopted a policy requiring all volunteers , employees , teachers and priests to be fingerprinted and have a background check before they could work with children . several years later , this policy was enshrined and adopted by all u.s. bishops in the charter for protection of young people . universities the archdiocese of miami oversees and administers the catholic university of st. thomas university in miami . st. thomas university offers bachelor of arts , master of arts , master 's degree , master of business administration , , doctor of education , and doctor of philosophy. programs through its college and various 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 ( ) . seminaries st. john vianney college seminary and st. vincent de paul regional seminary serve priestly formation needs . candidates to the catholic priesthood must have a college degree plus another four to five years of seminary formation . this formation includes not only academic classes but also human , spiritual and pastoral education . st. john vianney seminary , which is located in miami , states as its fundamental purpose " to provide an undergraduate education for students whose stated objective is to serve the catholic church as priests " , but it also offers education to lay ministers and to " others who may be enriched by its services " . st. vincent de paul regional seminary , located in boynton beach , offers a master 's degree in theology and theological studies and a first professional degree in divinity and ministry . priests serving in the archdiocese of miami are required to speak both spanish and english , and these two seminaries are the only bilingual seminaries in the united states . as of august 2007 , there are 126 seminarians in priestly formation at both seminaries . catholic charities of the archdiocese of miami catholic charities of the archdiocese of miami is a separate non - profit organization operated by the archdiocese of miami . it is part of a national network of organizations that are operated in each u.s. diocese . this organization claims to be the largest nongovernmental provider of services to the needy in south florida . it began in 1931 during the great depression with four miami - area pastors and lay members of the society of saint vincent de paul . it employs over 600 staff and operates on an annual budget of over $ 38 million . in 2006 , it served over 17 , 000 families in the tri - county area of broward , miami - dade and monroe counties . some of these services include transitional housing , homeless shelters , elderly day care , child day care , addiction recovery , hiv / aids programs , family and school counseling , meals for the elderly and various immigrant and refugee help programs among others . catholic health services archdiocese of miami catholic health services operates 26 facilities in broward and miami - dade counties . according to the 2007 archdiocese of miami official catholic directory , the two catholic hospitals , mercy hospital in miami and holy cross hospital in ft . lauderdale , served 1 , 278 , 516 people ; three chs health care centers served 7 , 896 ; three homes for the aged assisted 2 , 578 senior citizens ; two residential care centers for children served 376 ; seven day - care centers served 1 , 885 ; two specialized homes assisted 383 ; twelve special centers for social services served 81 , 320 ; and eleven other institutions served 1 , 432 people in 2007 . catholic hospice care is a partnership between the archdiocese of miami and mercy hospital . it provides end of life care to terminally ill patients and their families throughout miami - dade and monroe counties . catholic health services also operates two catholic cemeteries , our lady queen of heaven in broward county and our lady of mercy in miami - dade . outreach lay movements and ministries over 60 movements and ministries are run by laity ( those who are not ordained priests or religious brothers and sisters ) , " there may be hundreds more ... " according to miami auxiliary bishop felipe estevez . there are 17 categories of ministries listed under the archdiocese office of lay are : 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 , , family life , knights of columbus , lay ministry , lay movements , marian movements , missions , prison ministry , respect life , and youth ministries . some other lay movements and ministries include various prayer and support groups , an emmaus , and groups which provide worship , social and religious formation for men , women and teenagers . some parishes provide groups for single catholics , divorced or separated people , drug and alcohol addiction help , learning spanish or english as a second language and parish outreach services to the poor and needy through parish pantries and need - specific donor drives . the archdiocese also supports , in conjunction with other christian communities , two pro - life crisis pregnancy centers which provide aid to pregnant women and encourage them not to have abortions . a post - abortion counseling program called project rachel is also provided . morning star renewal center is a retreat house operated by lay people with the support of the archdiocese . the center provides facilities for group retreats and offers spiritual formation activities year round . facilities include a 60 guest capacity , a conference room , a chapel , and overnight and cafeteria accommodations . charities several charities are run by the archdiocese and staffed by both employees and volunteers . these include camillus house , catholic legal services , an hiv / aids shelter , the missionaries of charity , society of saint vincent de paul , and social advocacy groups . media the archdiocese uses several types of media to fulfill its evangelization efforts : radio ministry radio paz is a spanish - language radio ministry of the archdiocese of miami founded in december 1990 . in south florida , it is broadcast on 830 am . radio peace — the sister station of radio paz — is an english - language radio ministry founded in january 1993 and broadcast on 1040 am . these stations also broadcast over the internet at the stations were founded by archdiocese of miami priest fr . federico , who envisioned a radio station " to respond to the call of pope john paul ii to evangelize through the media . " 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 " . television one part of communications office of the archdiocese is television and video production . english and spanish masses air sundays on local television stations . additionally , the television center produces content for the internet and video . one video , entitled " walking in the light of christ , " received a award of excellence from the association of marketing and communication professionals . leadership archbishops bishop ( later archbishop ) coleman carroll ( 1958 – 1977 ) archbishop edward anthony mccarthy ( 1977 – 1994 ) archbishop john favalora ( 1994 – 2010 ) archbishop thomas wenski ( since 2010 ) auxiliary bishops bishop norbert dorsey ( 1986 – 1990 ) ; appointed bishop of orlando bishop felipe ( 2004 - 2011 ) ; appointed bishop of the roman catholic diocese of st. augustine , florida , on wednesday , april 27 , 2011 bishop gilberto fernandez ( 1997 - 2002 ) ; resigned bishop john fitzpatrick ( 1968 – 1971 ) ; appointed bishop of brownsville bishop rené ( 1968 – 1975 ) ; appointed bishop of pensacola - tallahassee bishop john nevins ( 1979 – 1984 ) ; appointed bishop of venice , florida bishop john noonan ( 2005 - 2010 ) ; appointed bishop of orlando bishop agustin roman ( 1979 - 2013 ) ; retired bishop thomas wenski ( 1997 – 2003 ) ; appointed coadjutor bishop of orlando ; served as bishop of orlando before returning in 2010 as archbishop of miami bishop peter ( 2014 – present ) priests of the diocese who became bishops ambrose de paoli appointed nuncio , and titular archbishop , in 1983 fernando appointed bishop of pueblo in 2009 robert nugent lynch appointed bishop of saint petersburg , florida in 1996