Enrique San Pedro

Enrique San Pedro y Fonaguera (March 9, 1926 – July 17, 1994) was a Cuban-born American Catholic prelate who served as the fourth bishop of Brownsville in Texas from 1991 until his death in 1994 and previously as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston from 1986 to 1991. San Pedro was a member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits).

Biography Early life Enrique San Pedro y Fonaguera was born on March 9, 1926, in Havana, Cuba, the second child and oldest son of María Antonia Fornaguera and Enrique San Pedro y Xiques. His siblings were Silvia, Berta, and Javier.

San Pedro studied at Colegio de Belén in Havana and then entered the novitiate of the Jesuits at Escuela Apostólica y Seminario Menor in Sagua la Grande on December 7, 1941. He continued his studies at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and received his doctorate in sacred scripture from the University of Innsbruck, Austria. He spoke seven languages, wrote two books, and published some professional articles and book reviews.

After finishing his education, the Jesuits sent San Pedro to what was then South Vietnam to teach at the Pius X Pontifical College in Da Lat. He also worked at the Student Center of St. Francisco Javier in Huế. In 1975, after the Fall of Saigon, he was banished from Vietnam by the Communist government. During the period he was in Vietnam, he acted as a liaison between the Bishops' Conference and the clergy. He was installed as bishop on September 26, 1991. On November 30, 1991, San Pedro succeeded as the fourth bishop of Brownsville.

Death and legacy Enrique San Pedro died in Miami on July 17, 1994, at age 68. He is buried at Our Lady of Mercy Cemetery in Miami.

The Diocese of Brownsville named a homeless shelter after him, the Bishop Enrique San Pedro Ozanam Center. Additionally, a Spanish service club in Belen Jesuit Preparatory School in Miami is named after him.