On Saturday morning Catholics from across North Florida gathered in Gainesville to welcome a new leader to their church.
In April Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Felipe Estevez bishop of St. Augustine, a diocese that includes the cities of Gainesville, Jacksonville, and St. Augustine and Levy and Dixie counties.
Priests and church members from around the area welcomed Bishop Esteves to the Holy Faith Catholic Church in Northwest Gainesville. Esteves was born in Havan, Cuba and came to the United States when he was 15 as part of the Peter Pan operation in 1961.
Bishop Esteves studied and worked around the world before becoming a part of the archdiocese in Miami. He hopes to reach out to the seven per cent of his diocese's population that is Hispanic.