Regis House celebrates its founder Jesuit Father Pérez Lerena
The Board of Regis House, a Jesuit-sponsored nonprofit center for drug prevention and treatment that was founded in 1984 by Jesuit Father Francisco Pérez-Lerena, celebrated his retirement at the age of 92 with a gala dinner in the Cosculluela Hall on April 1.
Born on December 27, 1924, he studied at Miss Phillips School and at the Colegio de Belén, from where he graduated in 1944. He taught at Belen Jesuit (1961-1963) and studied Ignatian Spirituality at the Pontificia Università Gregoriana in Rome. In the Dominican Republic, he served as master of the novitiates (1964-1973), taught at the Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra, and served as the rector of the Filosofado Diocesano in Santiago de los Caballeros (1968-1974), as provincial of the Jesuit Antilles Province (1974-1979), and as president of the Conferencia Dominicana de Religiosos (1974-1979). He taught at Belen Jesuit (1979-1980), where he also served as rector (1980-1983) and as superior of the Miami Jesuits (1980-1983; 2003-2009). He founded and served as the director of Regis House from 1984 to 2016.
The event was attended by about 200 friends and benefactors and was carefully organized by Regis House counselors and volunteers. Members of the school administration, along with the Regis Board members and Belen Alumni, also attended the special event. Several messages from young clients expressed the life changing effects of treatment received at Regis House. A silent auction took place during the gala to help raise funds for Regis House, which offers free services to Miami’s poor and homeless as a charitable nonprofit organization.
The Provincial for the Antilles Province, Jesuit Father Javier Vidal, was on hand to deliver to Fr. Pérez-Lerena a Proclamation by Miami’s Mayor Tomas Regalado and Commissioner Francis Suarez in which April 1, 2017 was declared “Father Francisco Pérez-Lerena Day.”
Members of junior class served as ushers and 20 members of the Belen Jesuit Jazz Band, conducted by Ms. Marlene Urbay, delighted the audience during the evening.
BELEN JESUIT PREPARATORY SCHOOL
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: webmaster@belenjesuit.org
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: webmaster@belenjesuit.org
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School was founded in 1854 in Havana, Cuba by Queen Isabel II of Spain. The task of educating students was assigned to the priests and brothers of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), whose teaching tradition is synonymous with academic excellence and spiritual discipline. In 1961, the new political regime of Cuba confiscated the School property and expelled the Jesuit faculty. The School was re-established in Miami the same year, and over the next decade, continued to grow. Today, Belen Jesuit sits on a 30-acre site in western Dade County, only minutes away from downtown Miami.