PEÑALVER Y CÁRDENAS, LUIS IGNACIO

Bishop; b. Havana, Cuba, April 13, 1749; d. Havana, July 17, 1810. He studied in Havana at St. Ignatius College until 1768, when a decree of King Charles III of Spain closed this and other Jesuit institutions. He moved to the University of Havana and earned a doctorate in theology (1781). After Peñalver's ordination in 1772, Bp. Santiago José de Echevarria Felguezua placed him in charge of contributions and legacies made to the Diocese of Santiago de Cuba. In 1773 Peñalver became vicargeneral and ecclesiastical judge. He also held the post of administrator of the diocese for two years. He assisted in founding a public library; organized an asylum for the poor, the Casa de Beneficencia; and inaugurated a program to promote better relations between the upper classes and the common people of Cuba. He spent much of his fortune in relief work for victims of a hurricane that swept Cuba in 1792.

When Pius VI created the Diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas in 1793, he appointed Peñalver the first bishop. He arrived in New Orleans July 17, 1795, and found the religious life of the people at a very low ebb. There were approximately 11,000 Catholics in New Orleans and its environs, but hardly more than a fourth of them ever attended Mass. Accompanied by his secretary, Rev. Ysidro Quintero, and the pastor of St. Louis Cathedral, Rev. Antonio de Sedella, Peñalver made a visitation (1796) of the 14 parishes and, in lieu of a synod, which he did not consider feasible, he issued detailed letters of instructions. These had the force of synodal regulations and helped stem some deeply rooted abuses. After six years, he could claim only qualified success for his efforts in Louisiana. On Nov. 3, 1801, he departed for Guatemala City, Guatemala, to whose archbishopric he had been promoted. After five years there, he retired to Havana.

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