Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami

The Archdiocese of Miami is a particular church of the 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 archbishop is Thomas Wenski.

About Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami in brief

Summary Roman Catholic Archdiocese of MiamiThe Archdiocese of Miami is a particular church of the 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 archbishop is Thomas Wenski. As archbishop, he also serves as pastor of the Cathedral of Saint Mary. 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. 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 HIVAIDS ministry, and the Missionaries of Charity and Society of Saint Vincent de Paul ministries to the poor. Catholic Charities claims to be the largest non-governmental provider of social services to the needy in South. Florida. 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. 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 US. Operation Pedro Pan placed them with friends, relatives or the Catholic welfare Bureau.

In 1996, the Catholic Welfare bureau changed its name to CatholicCharities. It served over 17,000 families in the tri-county area of Broward,. Dade and Monroe. counties in 2006. The diocese was created on October 7, 1958, with Coleman Carroll installed as bishop. Miami was made an archbishop by Pope Paul VI, and was named Metropolitan See for all of Florida in 1968. Bishop Edward Anthony McCarthy was appointed as Miami’s archbishop in 1977. He oversaw the construction of the Pastoral Center and restructured most senior operational divisions. In 1980, he supported the rights of Haitian immigrants who were detained under the Wet Foot, Dry Foot policy. During his tenure, he opened the Pierre Toussaint Haitian Center. In 1994, Pope John Paul II appointed John Cavalora as the third archbishop of Miami. He retired in 1994 at the age of 75 at the required age. The following year he built two two Catholic schools for the disabled, one for disabled children and the other for the elderly. He also helped build the Mariel Boat Lift Ministry. 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.