CARDENAS, Luis Ignaeio Penalver y, R. C. archbishop, born in Havana, Cuba, 3 April, 1749, died there, 17 July, 1810. At an early age he was placed as a student in the College of the Jesuit Fathers in Havana, afterward studied at the University of St. Jerome, and eventually entered the priesthood, proving himself a remarkable man both by his attainments and by his natural gifts. In 1773 he was appointed vicar-general of Santiago de Cuba. This charge embraced Louisiana and Florida, and he personally inspected all parts of his diocese. When the diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas was formed, in 1793, Penalver was selected as its bishop, was consecrated, and went to New Orleans in 1794, where the existing cathedral had just been completed. Religion was at a very low ebb, and immorality and infidelity were rife. Bishop Cardenas found the task of reformation well nigh hopeless, but labored zealously for seven years, when he was promoted to the see of Guatemala, and left New Orleans, 20 July, 1801. On the voyage his ship narrowly escaped capture by a British man-of-war. In 1806 he obtained leave to resign, and, returning to his native City, devoted the remainder of his life to charitable works.