A Jesuit Bishop," Up For Beatification"

Bishop Enrique San Pedro started his teaching career at age 12 as a boy in Cuba.

His passion for learning extended through nearly half a dozen countries, three continents and 56 years. His journey ended here in the Rio Grande Valley, where his love for learning is still talked about in the Catholic community. San Pedro was the Brownsville Diocese's fourth bishop, and although he passed away in 1994, his influence is still felt across the country.

San Pedro came into the world March 9, 1926, in Havana, Cuba. It wasn't long before he started teaching. At age 12, San Pedro was advanced in his studies, and teachers asked him to help tutor other students, said Lydia Pesina, who worked at the Diocese of Brownsville when San Pedro was bishop.

Pesina worked in the Catechesis office, which is dedicated to educating people about the Gospel. She says she would meet with the bishop occasionally when he traveled to Hidalgo County from Brownsville. She would often hear the story about how the bishop started teaching before he could drive, shave or reach things on high shelves.

And she believed it. San Pedro showed a passion for education in everything he did, Pesina said. When he waited for flights at the airport, he carried a book with him. In fact, when he waited for pretty much anything he carried a book with him.

"The things that meant most to him were his service to the church, to the people," Pesina said. She still works for the diocese as the director of the family life office. "As far as possessions, his biggest thing was his books."

After his first taste of academics, San Pedro was hooked.

He entered the Society of Jesus in 1941. He was ordained as a priest in 1957. In the years between, he earned a master's degree in classical literature from St. Stanislaus College in Salamanca, Spain.

He also received a licentiate degree in philosophy from the Pontifical University of Comillas in Santandar, Spain.

After he became a priest, he obtained a second licentiate degree, this time in in theology from Leopold-Franzens University in Innsbruck Austria. In 1965 he earned a doctorate in sacred theology from the same university.

And there's more still. On top of earning a doctorate, San Pedro did post-graduate work at the Franz-Joseph University in Vienna, Austria.

He taught at the university level for about two decades before being appointed auxiliary bishop at the Galveston-Houston Diocese. He was the first Hispanic to hold the post.

Aside from his distinguished education career, the diocese also remembers San Pedro as a man of the world. He was said to be fluent in as many as seven languages. Indeed, San Pedro boasts an impressive travel record. The Cuban native studied in two European countries. And from 1963 to 1975, he worked in Vietnam, serving as the liaison between the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and Vietnamese clergy.

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Beatification

A clergyman who once served the Rio Grande Valley is also under consideration for beatification and canonization: Bishop Enrique San Pedro, a Jesuit who served during the early 1990s as the Brownsville Diocese’s fourth bishop. The Catholic.org Web site says beatification requires one miracle attributed to the person under consideration. The Church requires a second miracle for canonization.

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Short Biography

SAN PEDRO, S.J., Enrique (1928-1994)

Birth. Born in Havana, Cuba on March 9, 1928.

Education. He entered the Society of Jesus. He made his novitiate in Salamanca, Spain, Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, Salamanca (philosophy), he studied theology at the Leopold-Franzens University, Innsbruck, Austria. He earned a bachelor's degree in Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome.

Priesthood. He was ordained priest on March 18, 1957. He was professor of Scripture at the Pontifical College St. Pius X, in Dalat, Viet Nam for 10 years. From 1976 to 1977 he taught at the Seminary of St. Thomas, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. From 1978 to 1980 he taught at the Pacific Regional Seminary in Suva, Fiji Islands, and finally from 1981 to 1986 in the St. Vincent de Paul Seminary, in Boynton Beach, Florida, United States. It was a true polyglot speaking English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Vietnamese and Chinese.

Episcopate. He was elected titular bishop of Siccesi and appointed auxiliary of Galveston-Houston, United States on April 1, 1986. Was consecrated on June 29, 1986. Appointed coadjutor bishop of Brownsville on August 13, 1991. He succeeded to the seat of Brownsville to the resignation of the Bishop of Bishop John Joseph Ftzpatrick on November 30 of that year.

Death. He died in Miami on Sunday July 17 1994. He was buried in the section reserved for bishops and priests in the Catholic cemetery "Our Lady of Mercy" in that city.

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