This statue is located in the small courtyard west of the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Augustine. In addition to being erected in celebration of the United States' bicentennial, it was erected in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the arrival of Minorcan colonists in St. Augustine.
The following information about the statue and Father Pedro Camps is from the halsema.org website:
1. This image of great suffering in the eyes of God’s servant Fr. Pedro Camps is perhaps symbolic of the suffering endured by the Minorcans who were aboard the ships of Dr. Andrew Turnbull, an English colonist.
2. The statue is a dedication to the Catholic Friar Pedro Camps, who accompanied the 900 Minorcans, 400 Greeks and several Corsicans and Italians on Turnbull’s ships, which sailed to the New World in early in 1768. During this time of British rule, Fr. Camps single handedly preserved the Catholic Faith in the colony of Florida.
3. Turnbull, his crew and the other colonists were destined for the New Smyrna Colony, located south of the Spanish port city of St. Augustine.
4. The colonists arrived in Saint Augustine June 26 of the same year and, after a brief stay there, sailed south to New Smyrna.
5. The New Smyrna experience was horrific and eventually futile as over half of those who arrived there were dead within 10 years. Fr. Camps kept detailed records.
6. Of the 900 Minorcans who arrived at the New Smyrna Colony, only 300 remained. Father Pedro Camps, was the spiritual mainstay for the entire community.
7. The colonists of New Smyrna, in 1777, abandoned their efforts in New Smyrna and walked north to St. Augustine. Fr Camps with no resources, continued on in Saint Augustine.
8. Once there, they entered the trades of seafaring, net making and, at the same time, established a cultural dimension to the city which still exists today.