By Ana Rodriguez Soto - The Archdiocese of Miami
Deacon Enzo Rosario Prendes stands after responding "Present" after his name is called at the start of the ordination rite.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski ordained three men to the archdiocesan priesthood May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Deacon Cesar Betancourt stands after responding "Present" after his name is called at the start of the ordination rite.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski ordained three men to the archdiocesan priesthood May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski watches as the three men to be ordained walk up to the altar to begin the rite of priestly ordination, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
From left, Deacons Agustin Estrada, Cesar Betancourt and Enzo Rosario Prendes listen to Archbishop Thomas Wenski's homily during the ordination Mass, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski lays hands on Deacon Cesar Betancourt, ordaining him to the archdiocesan priesthood, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski lays hands on Deacon Enzo Rosario Prendes, ordaining him to the archdiocesan priesthood, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski lays hands on Deacon Agustin Estrada, ordaining him to the archdiocesan priesthood, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Auxiliary Bishop Enrique Delgado, far left, and Bishop Silvano Pedroso of Guantanamo-Baracoa, Cuba, lay hands and pray over newly ordained Fathers Agustin Estrada, right, and Cesar Betancourt during the ordination rite, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Father Ivan Rodriguez lays hands and prays over newly ordained Father Cesar Betancourt during the ordination rite, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Father Luis Largaespada lays hands and prays over newly ordained Father Enzo Rosario Prendes during the ordination rite, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Newly ordained Father Enzo Rosario Prendes receives the kiss of peace from Archbishop Thomas Wenski at the conclusion of the ordination rite, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Newly ordained Father Agustin Estrada laughs as he receives the kiss of peace from a fellow priest at the conclusion of the ordination rite, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Newly ordained Father Cesar Betancourt laughs as he receives the kiss of peace from a fellow priest at the conclusion of the ordination rite, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
James Estrada, 6, and Mercedes Estrada, right, nephew and sister, respectively, of Father Agustin Estrada, watch as he receives the kiss of peace from a long line of fellow priests. Behind James is another sister, Gloria Estrada, and at far right is Father Estrada's mother, Gregoria Estrada.
James Estrada, 6, nephew of Father Agustin Estrada, and Gloria Estrada, the new priest's sister, watch as he receives the kiss of peace from a long line of fellow priests.
Newly ordained Fathers Enzo Rosario Prendes, far left, Cesar Betancourt, to the left of Archbishop Thomas Wenski, and Agustin Estrada recite the Eucharistic Prayer, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Newly ordained Father Enzo Rosario Prendes recites the Eucharistic Prayer, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Newly ordained Father Cesar Betancourt recites the Eucharistic Prayer, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
The newly ordained, at rear, from left, Father Agustin Estrada, Father Cesar Betancourt, and Father Enzo Rosario Prendes, take a moment for silent prayer after Communion. In front are Auxiliary Bishop Enrique Delgado and Archbishop Emeritus John C. Favalora.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski gets a blessing from newly ordained Father Enzo Prendes at the conclusion of the ordination Mass, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski gets a blessing from newly ordained Father Cesar Betancourt at the conclusion of the ordination Mass, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski gets a blessing from newly ordained Father Agustin Estrada at the conclusion of the ordination Mass, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Neocatechumenal Way seminarians express their joy in song outside St. Mary Cathedral after the ordination ceremony for two of their own, Father Agustin Estrada and Father Cesar Betancourt, May 7, 2022. (TOM TRACY | FC)
Neocatechumenal Way seminarians express their joy in song outside St. Mary Cathedral after the ordination ceremony for two of their own, Father Agustin Estrada and Father Cesar Betancourt, May 7, 2022. (TOM TRACY | FC)
Newly ordained Father Agustin Estrada hugs his mom, Gregoria Estrada, while waiting to impart first blessings to well-wishers. He was one of three men ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Thomas Wenski May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Newly ordained Father Agustin Estrada gets a group hug from his sisters and nephews while waiting to impart first blessings to well-wishers. He was one of three men ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Thomas Wenski May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Newly ordained Father Agustin Estrada imparts a first blessing to his family, including his parents, sisters and nephews, after the Mass where Archbishop Thomas Wenski ordained him and two others, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Newly ordained Father Agustin Estrada imparts a blessing to a young well-wisher after his ordination May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral. (TOM TRACY | FC)
Newly ordained Father Agustin Estrada imparts blessings to well-wishers after the Mass where Archbishop Thomas Wenski ordained him and two others, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Newly ordained Father Enzo Rosario Prendes smiles while imparting blessings to well-wishers after the Mass where Archbishop Thomas Wenski ordained him and two others, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Newly ordained Father Enzo Rosario Prendes imparts a first blessing to well-wisher Marcia Perez after the Mass where Archbishop Thomas Wenski ordained him and two others, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Newly ordained Father Cesar Betancourt imparts a blessing to his father, Francisco Betancourt, after his ordination May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral. (TOM TRACY | FC)
Newly ordained Father Cesar Betancourt laughs before imparting a blessing to a well-wisher after his ordination May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral. (TOM TRACY | FC)
Newly ordained Father Cesar Betancourt imparts a first blessing to his sister, Yariana Betancourt, and her children after the Mass where Archbishop Thomas Wenski ordained him and two others, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Newly ordained Father Cesar Betancourt imparts a first blessing to family members after the Mass where Archbishop Thomas Wenski ordained him and two others, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Posing outside St. Mary Cathedral for their official photos with Archbishop Thomas Wenski, from left, are newly ordained Fathers Agustin Estrada, Enzo Prendes and Cesar Betancourt, May 7, 2022.
The newly ordained pose outside St. Mary Cathedral May 7, 2022, for an official photo with Archbishop Thomas Wenski, concelebrating bishops and seminary rectors; from left: Father Alfredo Hernandez, rector of St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, Boynton Beach; Father Emanuele De Nigris, rector of Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary, Miami; Auxiliary Bishop Enrique Delgado; Bishop Silvio Baez, auxiliary of Managua, Nicaragua; Father Agustin Estrada; Archbishop Wenski; Father Enzo Rosario Prendes; Father Cesar Betancourt; Father Matthew Gomez, archdiocesan director of vocations; Bishop Fernando Isern, emeritus of Pueblo, Colorado; and Bishop Silvano Pedroso of Guantanamo-Baracoa, Cuba.
Photography: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC
Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC
Newly ordained Father Enzo Rosario Prendes smiles while imparting blessings to well-wishers after the Mass where Archbishop Thomas Wenski ordained him and two others, May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
MIAMI | Pedro Estrada held back tears as he stood next to his son, who in a few moments would become a priest.
“As his father, I couldn’t believe it,” Estrada said of newly ordained Father Agustin Estrada. “To have a son who is a priest, it’s a gift.”
Father Estrada, 30, was one of the three men Archbishop Thomas Wenski ordained May 7, 2022, before a throng of family members, friends and well-wishers along with more than 100 priests and five bishops. Hundreds more watched the ceremony via livestream on the archdiocesan website, including someone from India who messaged the archdiocese via YouTube.
His son’s perseverance through 11 years of seminary formation was surprising, Estrada said, since Agustin was “very restless” and the most “dating-inclined” of his six children.
Aside from creating “a little church” within the family, “we did nothing for him to become a priest. God made him a priest,” the elder Estrada said.
Father Cesar Betancourt’s sister-in-law, Regina Vasquez, said his family views his ordination as “a manifest miracle.”
“I thought they would kick him out,” said his father, Francisco Betancourt, who described his son, 37, as a fan of “anything that moves,” “a revolutionary,” and someone who is “not afraid of anything.”
“God saved him from the streets,” said María Abreu, Father Betancourt’s aunt on his mother’s side. She added that she got “shivers” during the ordination when she thought about her sister, who died in 2007.
“She was always after him,” Abreu said, attributing her nephew’s conversion and eventual ordination to his mother’s influence from heaven.
Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC
Newly ordained Father Agustin Estrada hugs his mom, Gregoria Estrada, while waiting to impart first blessings to well-wishers. He was one of three men ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Thomas Wenski May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Photographer: TOM TRACY | FC
Newly ordained Father Cesar Betancourt laughs before imparting a blessing to a well-wisher after his ordination May 7, 2022 at St. Mary Cathedral.
Father Betancourt describes his mother’s death as a key event in his life, along with the death of his grandmother in 1998.
She “is happy in heaven,” said another aunt, Toñita Betancourt, speaking of her mother, Father Betancourt’s grandmother, “who was 1,000 percent Catholic.”
“So moved. We have no words,” Toñita Betancourt added.
Father Enzo Rosario Prendes, 29, did not have blood relatives present at his ordination. He is an only child and his mother could not come from Cuba in time.
But parishioners of St. Hugh, in Coconut Grove, “became his family here in Miami,” said Father Luis Largaespada, the church’s pastor, who vested Father Rosario Prendes in his priestly robes during the ceremony.
“The community gifted him with his chalice,” Father Largaespada added, and the church’s sacristan, Silvia Santana, stood beside Father Rosario Prendes, representing his mother.
“He’s a love,” Santana said. “Very hardworking, very beautiful.”
The new priests will begin their service as parochial vicars at the following parishes: Father Betancourt at St. John Neumann in Miami; Father Estrada at St. Gregory in Plantation; and Father Rosario Prendes at Sts. Peter and Paul in Miami.
Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC
Posing outside St. Mary Cathedral for their official photos with Archbishop Thomas Wenski, from left, are newly ordained Fathers Agustin Estrada, Enzo Prendes and Cesar Betancourt, May 7, 2022.
