The following information about the baptismal font is from a March 22, 2013, news article (
visit link) in The St. Augustine Record:
"A replica baptismal font of the one in which Juan Ponce de Leon was baptized in 1474 will arrive in St. Augustine on Thursday in time for St. Augustine’s 500th anniversary celebration.
The font is a gift to the city of St. Augustine and the Cathedral Basilica by the town of Santervas de Campos, where Ponce was born.
Dana Ste. Claire, the city’s 450th Commemoration development director and project coordinator, said the transportation cost for the font has been secured through two private donations: $6,000 from Pat Croce, owner of the St. Augustine Pirate Museum and Colonial Quarter LLC, and $1,000 from Cisco and Gloria Deen, longtime residents of Flagler Beach and St. Augustine. The font will be flown by commercial air carrier from Madrid to Miami International Airport, where it will clear U.S. Customs and then be transported by truck to St. Augustine.
An 11 a.m. Mass and dedication ceremony on April 3 in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine will be part of the city’s official celebration that day, 500 years after Ponce first landed in Florida on April 3, 1513.
The Rev. Thomas S. Willis, Cathedral Basilica rector, is grateful to the donors because their gifts ensure the font’s arrival in time for the anniversary celebration, he said. A location for the font inside the Cathedral Basilica has not yet been determined, he said.
Two replica fonts were commissioned by Santervas: one for their church, San Geravasio and San Protasio Church, and the other for the Cathedral Basilica. The replica font is one of two carved by sculptor Miguel Jimenez Escudero, of Valladolid, Spain. The original font was given to the Cathedral of San Juan in Puerto Rico in the 1960s by the Spanish Catholic Church and Spain’s then-ruler, Gen. Francisco Franco. Ponce was Puerto Rico’s first governor.
Alcalde Santiago Baeza Benavides, mayor of Santervas de Campos, will officially present the font to the city of St. Augustine and the Cathedral Basilica.
The gift was announced in October by Baeza, Willis and Mayor Joe Boles. City Vice Mayor Leanna Freeman secured the donation of the font while in Spain last year after meeting Baeza. His city wanted to give it to a city in Florida. The city determined the Cathedral Basilica would be the place for it. The font will be used for baptisms in the Cathedral Basilica in addition to the original font in the Cathedral baptistry."
The following additional information is from a March 29, 2013, news article (
visit link) in The St. Augustine Record:
"The weight of the font — 1,543 pounds.
The cathedral’s own baptismal font, which is more than 100 years old, has been placed in storage to make way for the new font.
The replica font is 35 inches tall, and the bowl is 13.7 inches deep. A master stone mason in Santervas made the baptismal font out of a solid piece of limestone."
The following additional information is from a November 24, 2014, news article (
visit link) in The St. Augustine Record:
"The nation’s oldest parish is home to a replica baptismal font used to baptize Ponce de Leon as an infant in 1474 in Santervas de Campo, Spain.
Brian Baker, president of Baker Liturgical Art, the company handling the Cathedral renovations for the 450th commemoration calls the solid granite, 1,500-pound font the “most famous baptismal font in America.”
The Rev. Thomas S. Willis, pastor of the Cathedral Basilica said, “I am proud of the fact that the Cathedral has responsibility for it. I think it’s neat that it found its way into America’s first parish.”
Around the holidays many people visit the 18th century Cathedral and Willis hopes they’ll be curious about and respectful of the special font. Those who attend special services such as the upcoming opening of the Year of Consecrated Religious Life Mass on Sunday may also notice the vessel for the first time.
The active, usable baptismal was a gift of the tiny village of Santervas de Campos, the birth place of Ponce de Leon in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Ponce de Leon’s landing in “la Florida.” April 13, 2013 was the 500th anniversary.
“It was a magnanimous gift and a reminder of Ponce de Leon’s greatest discovery. It continues to let us celebrate the ties we have with Spain,” Willis said.
The Spanish town’s mayor, Santiago Baez Benavides, gave this gift to the city but was adamant it be used in the church. Willis is mindful that it belongs to everyone and welcomes visitors into the Cathedral to see it."