Francisco Ricardo Oves Fernández

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He was born in Camagüey, Cuba. He began his seminary studies at the Seminary of San Basilio Magno, El Cobre, Oriente. Later he was sent by the archbishop of Santiago de Cuba, Mons. Enrique Pérez Serantes, to study at the Pontifical University of Comillas, Spain. There he obtained his degree in philosophy and theology.

He was ordained 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 pastor of Santa Cruz del Sur, 1952-1961; director of television programs, adviser to apostolic movements; after the triumph of the revolution in 1959, he was one of the first priests who realized its Marxist-Leninist orientation; he advised the group of lay people interested in founding the Christian Democratic Movement within legal channels; pastor of Santa Ana, in the city of Camagüey, in April 1961.

After the failure of the invasion of Playa Girón, he was expelled from Camagüey together with numerous members of the clergy, and took refuge in Havana with Mons. Eduardo Boza Masvidal, titular bishop of Vinda and auxiliary of that archdiocese.

In September 1961 he was exiled to Spain on the steamship Covadonga together with Mons. Boza and more than 150 priests. He went to Rome and, with Mons. Boza and Fr. Agnelio Blanco, had an audience with Pope John XXIII.

In that city and with the help of Fr. Calogero Gliozzo, S.J., former provincial, director of the magazine Civiltà Cattolica and of the Institute of Pastoral Sociology, he studied at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas where he obtained his doctorate in Social Sciences.

In 1965 the charge d'affaires, a.i., of the Vatican in Cuba, Mons. Cesare Zacchi, managed to have Fr. Oves return to Cuba. The bishop of Camagüey, Mons. Adolfo Rodríguez Herrera, opposed his return. He was a professor at the Seminary of San Carlos and San Ambrosio in Havana and exercised his priestly ministry on various occasions in the diocese of Camagüey.

He was elected titular bishop of Montecorvino and appointed auxiliary of Cienfuegos by Pope Paul VI on April 25, 1969. He was consecrated in the cathedral of Cienfuegos on July 16 of that same year by Mons. Cesare Zacchi, titular bishop of Zella, charge d'affaires of the Holy See in Cuba, assisted by Mons. Alfredo Muller y San Martín, bishop of Cienfuegos and by Mons. Adolfo Rodríguez Herrera, bishop of Camagüey. The following day, he concelebrated with all the bishops in Santa Clara.

He was promoted to the archbishopric of Havana on January 26, 1970, succeeding Mons. Evelio Díaz Cía. Suffering from a nervous condition, he was taken to Rome in early 1980.

The pope appointed Mons. Pedro Meurice Estiu as apostolic administrator, sede plena, of Havana on February 20, 1980. He resigned from the pastoral governance of the Havana archdiocese on March 28, 1981. He was succeeded by Mons. Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, until then bishop of Pinar del Río.

In 1982 he went to reside in El Paso, Texas, United States and there he was vicar general for Hispanics and pastor of the church of the Santo Niño de Atocha.

He died on Tuesday, December 4, 1990, from a heart attack, in El Paso, Texas, United States. His body was transferred to Miami, Florida, and was laid in state at the Ermita de Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre on Sunday, December 8 in the afternoon. The funeral took place in the cathedral of St. Mary on Monday at 12:30 p.m. The Mass was concelebrated by Mons. Jaime Lucas Ortega Alamino, archbishop of Havana, successor of Mons. Oves, who traveled from Cuba to attend the funeral, Mons. Agustín Román, auxiliary bishop of Miami, Mons. Enrique San Pedro, S.J., auxiliary bishop of Galveston-Houston, Mons. Roberto Octavio González, O.F.M., titular bishop of Ursona, auxiliary of Boston, and 44 priests, mostly Cubans residing outside the island. He was buried in the Our Lady of Mercy cemetery, Miami, in the area reserved for priests and bishops. Another solemn funeral was celebrated in the Havana cathedral on Thursday, December 13 at 8:30 p.m., presided over by Archbishop Ortega.

After a long desire to be able to transfer the remains of Mons. Oves to the Archdiocese in which he was pastor, his ashes were transferred from Miami to be placed alongside those of other bishops who rest in the Cathedral of Havana in July of 2012