Buenaventura’s departure in 1745 initiated efforts to find a successor. At first it appeared as if the process would only take a short time, for Pedro Ponce y Carrasco immediately accepted the appointment. But once again familiar obstacles arose to keep him from Florida—lack of money to pay for the papal bulls, difficulties in consecration, and inadequate provision for the auxiliary’s maintenance. In fact, it was almost ten years before Ponce y Carrasco reached Florida. When the new auxiliary bishop arrived in Saint Augustine in April, 1754, he showed none of Buenaventura’s militancy or enthusiasm for reform. Although he was reported to be a model prelate, conforming in every way to royal and ecclesiastical law and to the orders of the bishop of Cuba, he had none of the vitality of his predecessor and showed no predilection for disturbing the life of the colony. The only real problem he encountered was finding a suitable place to live. Since the governor’s residence was not habitable AN504, Interim Governor Fulgencio Garcia de Solis had agreed to contribute 64 pesos a year to the work of the secular clergy and moved into the episcopal palace, but upon the arrival of Ponce y Carrasco, Garcia de Solis graciously consented to turn the residence over to the new prelate while he found other quarters. In the end the governor did not have to give up the episcopal palace for long. Within ten months after his arrival in February, 1755, Ponce y Carrasco departed for Cuba. (Tepaske GSF)