Carlos J. Cabán Vázquez

Father Carlos Cabán has an easy, joyful way about him, the kind that puts people at ease and usually comes with a joke. Ask how he ended up in Orlando and he has one ready. "I came and stayed," he says. "Or should I say, I came and they left me here, because the bishop wanted it."

None of that is an accident. Father Carlos is Puerto Rican-born and a Salesian of Don Bosco, ordained in Aguadilla in 2005, formed in an order that treats friendliness, availability, and joy as part of the calling. It stuck, and it is why people tend to describe him not just by his title or his studies, but by the way he shows up, glad to be there and quick to make room for one more person.

For nearly twenty years before Orlando, almost everything he did came back to young people. He led youth ministry at a parish in Cataño, helped form young men discerning the Salesian life in the Dominican Republic, served four years at a polytechnic institute in Santiago, and directed youth ministry after returning home to Puerto Rico. It fit the heart of his order exactly. The Salesians exist to educate and evangelize the young, and Father Carlos believes that mission runs deeper than any one community or title. It followed him to Central Florida, and it has not let go.

What he found in Orlando was a crossroads. The parishes he has served gather people from many countries and languages under one roof, and that is the work he loves most, building what he has called a communion of cultures united in the love of God. He described becoming a diocesan priest as a chance to renew his commitment to the community that welcomed him, and on the day it became official, he was the one wiping away tears. For a man who only meant to pass through, it looked a lot like a promise to stay.