Bishop Victor Galeone was installed as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Saint Augustine on August 21, 2001. He succeeded Bishop John J. Snyder who retired in December 2000. Pope John Paul II appointed Msgr. Victor Galeone Bishop of Saint Augustine on June 26, 2001.
Bishop Galeone, son of Angelo and Rita Galeone, was born in Philadelphia on Sept. 13, 1935, the fifth of six children. His family moved to Baltimore in 1941. There he attended St. Elizabeth of Hungary School in Highlandtown, Md., before entering in 1949, the minor seminary of St. Charles College in Catonsville, Md. He was assigned to the North American College in Rome, where he completed his theological studies at the Gregorian University, earning a Licentiate in Sacred Theology.
He was ordained to the priesthood in Rome on Dec. 18, 1960. On his return to Baltimore, he served as parochial vicar, pastor, professor and principal of the day seminary, as well as a missionary in Peru for 11 years. He also served on the Priests Council, the College of Consultors for the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the National Board of Directors of the Holy Childhood Association.
Bishop Galeone submitted his letter of resignation to the Apostolic Nuncio on his 75th birthday, Sept. 13, 2010, the mandatory retirement age for bishops. On April 27, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI accepted his resignation and named Auxiliary Bishop Felipe J. Estévez of the Archdiocese of Miami as the tenth Bishop of St. Augustine. Bishop Galeone now resides in Baltimore, MD.