By Ana Rodriguez Soto - Florida Catholic newspaper

MIAMI | For nearly three decades, John Prats and Father Rafael Pedroso engaged in a Sunday night tradition.

"He would come to my house every Sunday night. We would eat a whole pint of Haagen-Dazs ice cream and we would watch a movie," recalled Prats, adding that the priest's favorite flavor was chocolate.

The two, who became fast friends after meeting in 1984, continued that tradition until a couple of years ago, when Father Pedroso, 84, could no longer drive from his home near Zoo Miami to Prats' home near Miami Lakes.

In fact, Father Pedroso had been mostly bedridden for the past year, Prats said. The priest returned home earlier this month after spending a week at the hospital and almost immediately developed symptoms of COVID-19.

He died July 20, 2020, a few days after being put under the care of Catholic Hospice. Funeral services are set for Friday, July 31, at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Doral. Viewing will begin at 10 a.m. followed by the funeral Mass at 11 a.m. Burial will follow next door, at Our Lady of Mercy Cemetery in Doral.

Father Pedroso had been a priest for 55 years, 46 of those in the Archdiocese of Miami. He served as founding pastor of Santa Barbara Church in Hialeah Gardens from June 1987 until his retirement in December 2000.

"It's been a rough ride for him the last year," said Prats, who first met his "great friend" when Father Pedroso was assigned to Blessed Trinity Church in Miami Springs. Prats played in the choir.

"We just hit it off and started this lifelong friendship," he said.

The two shared a birthday — Dec. 1 — and a birthplace, Camaguey, Cuba. They also shared many breakfasts at Prats' home, and trips to Disney World with Prats' family.

When Father Pedroso was named founding pastor of Santa Barbara, "that was my parish," said Prats, who went on to direct the choir there for 14 years.

For the past 17 years, he has directed the Spanish music ministry at Our Lady of the Lakes in Miami Lakes, where Father Pedroso helped after his retirement.

"Father (James) Murphy would call him or Father (Jose) Alvarez would call him and he would come and celebrate Mass," Prats said, referring to the church's former pastors. "That probably stopped about three years ago," when the driving became difficult.

But Father Pedroso did not stop serving. He found a church nearer his home, St. Joachim, and helped there as well.

"As he was older, he could no longer stand. He would celebrate Mass sitting down," Prats said. He called his friend "a great man" and "a beloved priest."

"There was just something about Father Pedroso's presence," said Cristina Cabrera Jarro, a freelancer for the Florida Catholic whose family were among the founding parishioners at Santa Barbara. "The way that he spoke, his calm, his voice. It made one very lasting impression on me as a kid.

"He was my first impression of who, what, and how I thought a priest should be," she added. "He baptized me, gave me my first Communion, and I wanted him to celebrate my wedding one day. He was very special to my family and friends."

Born Dec. 1, 1935 in Cascorro, Camaguey, Father Pedroso entered the Salesians of Don Bosco in his native Cuba. After completing his novitiate and initial studies in Havana, he studied theology in Bogota, Colombia, where he was ordained Oct. 24, 1964.

After his ordination, he was named principal of a school in the Dominican Republic (1965-69). Then he moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he served in youth ministry and faith formation while taking additional courses at the Catholic University and the Universidad Central de Bayamon (1969-73).

He arrived in the Archdiocese of Miami in March 1974 and served at the Basilica of St. Mary Star of the Sea in Key West (1974-77); as parochial vicar at Our Lady of Divine Providence in Miami and spiritual director at Immaculata-La Salle High School (1977-79); as parochial vicar at Sts. Peter and Paul (1979-83); as spiritual director again at Immaculata-La Salle while in residence at St. Kieran (1983-84); and as parochial vicar at Blessed Trinity (1985-87). From 1984 to 1985 he was in residence at Blessed Trinity while working at the Metropolitan Tribunal.

He was incardinated — becoming an archdiocesan priest — on May 20, 1982 and retired from fulltime ministry Dec. 20, 2000. From 1987 to 1993 he also served on the advisory board for the permanent deaconate.

Father Pedroso is survived by two younger siblings: his sister, Rosario, and brother, Carlos; and a number of nieces and nephews.