Francisco Ricardo Oves-Fernandez (October 4, 1928 in Camagüey, Cuba – December 4, 1990 in

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

, Texas, US) was the archbishop of the

Archdiocese of Havana In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. He studied in the Seminary of San Basilio Magno, El Cobre, Oriente, Cuba. He was later sent by the Archbishop of

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains ...

, Mons. Enrique Pérez-Serantes, to study at the Pontificia Universidad de Comillas in Spain. He was ordained a priest on April 13, 1952, by Mons. Enrique Pérez-Serantes, archbishop of Santiago de Cuba, in the Cathedral of Camagüey. In the diocese of Camagüey he was assigned to the parish of Santa Cruz del Sur from 1952 to 1961 and director of TV programing. After the

Cuban revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...

of 1959, he was one of the first priests to realize the Marxist-Leninist orientation of the revolution. In April 1961, after the failed

Bay of Pigs Invasion The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called ''Invasión de Playa Girón'' or ''Batalla de Playa Girón'' after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles, covertly fin ...

, he was expelled from Camagüey along with other members of the clergy. He took refuge in Havana along with Mons.

Eduardo Boza-Masvidal Eduardo Tomas Boza-Masvidal (September 18, 1915 in Camagüey, Cuba – March 16, 2003 in Los Teques, Venezuela) was the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Havana. Biography His parents were Aurelio Boza and Clemencia Masvidal. He was baptis ...

, Auxiliary Bishop of Havana. In September 1961, he was exiled to Spain on the ship Covadonga along with Mons. Boza and more than another 150 priests. He went to Rome with Mons. Boza and Father Agnelio Blanco and had an interview with

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

. While in Rome he received a Doctorate in Social Sciences from Pontificia Universidad de Santo Tomás de Aquino. In 1965, the head of mission of the Vatican in Cuba Mons. Cesare Zacchi, was able to get Father Oves returned to Cuba. The Bishop of Camagüey, Mons. Adolfo Rodríguez-Herrera opposed his return to Cuba. He was a professor at the

San Carlos and San Ambrosio Seminary San Carlos and San Ambrosio Seminary is a seminary in Havana, Cuba. Building As a training center where prestigious Cuban intellectuals were educated before the foundation of the University of Havana, it was one of the most important buildings dur ...

in Havana. He was elevated as Titular Bishop of Montecorvino and named auxiliary bishop of Cienfuegos by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

on April 25, 1969. He was consecrated in the Cathedral of Cienfuegos on July 16, 1969, by Mons. Cesare Zacchi, Titular Bishop of Zella, and assisted by Mons. Alfredo Muller-San Martin, Bishop of Cienfuegos and Mons. Adolfo Rodríguez-Herrera, Bishop of Camagüey. He was promoted as Archbishop of Havana on January 26, 1970, succeeding Mons.

Evelio Díaz-Cía Evelio Diaz-Cia (February 17, 1902 in San Cristóbal, Pinar del Río, Cuba – July 21, 1984 in Havana, Cuba) was the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Havana. His parents were Arturo Díaz-Díaz and Francisca Cía-López. He was baptised a ...

. He later became sick from nerves and was taken to Rome in the beginning of 1980. The Pope designated an apostolic administrator, sede plena, for the Archdiocese of Havana Mons. Pedro Meurice Estiu, on February 20, 1980. He resigned his position on March 28, 1981. He was succeeded by Mons.

Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino (18 October 1936 – 26 July 2019) was a Cuban prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Havana from 1981 to 2016. He was appointed to the College of Cardinals in 1994, the second Cuban to hold tha ...

, the Bishop of the

Diocese of Pinar del Río In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. In 1982, he went to live in El Paso, Texas, USA and was assigned to the parish of Santo Niño de Atocha. He died on December 4, 1990, in El Paso, Texas, of a heart attack. His body was transferred to Miami, Florida and his body was displayed at the Shrine of Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre on Sunday, December 8, 1990. The funeral took place at the Cathedral of Saint Mary the following day. The mass was celebrated by Mons.

, Archbishop of Havana, the successor of Mons. Oves, who traveled from Cuba to assist in the Mass, Mons. Agustin Roman, auxiliary bishop of the

Archdiocese of Miami The Archdiocese of Miami ( la, Archidioecesis Miamiensis, es, Arquidiócesis de Miami, ht, Achidyosèz Miami) is a particular church of the Catholic Church in the United States of America. Its ecclesiastical territory consists of Broward, Miami ...

, Mons.

Enrique San Pedro Enrique San Pedro, S.J. (born Enrique San Pedro y Fonaguera) (March 9, 1926 - July 17, 1994) was a Cuban-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Brownsville in Texas from 1991 until his death i ...

, S.J., Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston, Mons. Roberto Octavio González, O.F.M., Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston, and 44 other priests, mainly Cuban exiles. He was buried at Our Lady of Mercy Cemetery, in the area reserved for bishops and priests. A second funeral mass was celebrated in the

Cathedral of Havana Havana Cathedral (''Catedral de San Cristóbal'') is one of eleven Catholic cathedrals on the island. It is located in the Plaza de la Catedral on Calle Empedrado, between San Ignacio y Mercaderes, Old Havana. The thirty by forty-nine meters rec ...

on December 13 presided by Archbishop Ortega.

References

* . * . {{DEFAULTSORT:Oves-Fernandez, Francisco 1928 births 1990 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Croatia Roman Catholic archbishops of Havana Roman Catholic bishops of Cienfuegos Roman Catholic bishops of Havana