NEWS STORY: John Paul boosts hopes of sainthood for Cuban-born priest

c. 1998 Religion News Service HAVANA _ Pope John Paul II has given Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits new hope that a much-beloved priest who died 150 years ago will reach sainthood. In visiting the grave Friday (Jan. 23) of the Rev. Felix Varela, the pope energized the candidacy of the Cuban-born […]

c. 1998 Religion News Service

HAVANA _ Pope John Paul II has given Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits new hope that a much-beloved priest who died 150 years ago will reach sainthood.

In visiting the grave Friday (Jan. 23) of the Rev. Felix Varela, the pope energized the candidacy of the Cuban-born Varela, nominated for sainthood by the Archdiocese of New York in 1985.


Varela, who is buried at the University of Havana, has also been honored by the U.S. Postal Service, which last year introduced a 32-cent stamp bearing his image.

the priest, born in the Cuban capital in 1788,spent much of his life doing charity work in poor New York neighborhoods, including the infamous Skid Row known as the Bowery.

Varela and Jose Marti, a poet and a fighter for Cuban independence from Spain, are two of Cuba’s most revered historical figures. Both struggled for Cuba’s independence and both were forced, for political reasons, to spend much of their lives in exile.

In his speech to Roman Catholic clergy and and Cuban academics and cultural leaders in the university’s main hall, where Varela once taught and where his remains are now kept in a marble vault, John Paul called the priest”an outstanding thinker”and an”exemplary priest of Havana and an undeniable patriot.” While Varela’s sainthood candidacy must meet several tests, including church confirmation of miracles attributed to him, Vatican spokesman John T. Foley called the pope’s visit to the university”a boost.””Certainly it does not take away from the need for miracles, but it shows an added interest and emphasis,”Foley said.

Varela would be the first Cuban-born saint, although St . Anthony Claret, founder of the Claretian order of priests, who was born in Spain, spent much of his life in Cuba during the 19th century.

During the hour-long ceremony at the university, where Cuban President Fidel Castro made an unexpected appearance, the pontiff also praised Marti, calling him”the heir of the thought of Father Varela.”he also said marti had considered Varela”the Cuban saint”a century before the process of canonization began.

In his talk, the pope also raised the issue of democracy, a sensitive issue in Cuba, which has one-party communist rule and where power is concentrated in Castro. The pope called democracy”the political project best in keeping with human nature.” But his message was not one of political rebellion, but of spiritual and cultural reform. John Paul, quoting Varela, said that”people must be educated for freedom and responsibility”and true democracy required”giving substance to the rule of law.” And as he has elsewhere during his first-ever visit to the island nation, the pope also called for a large role for the church in the nation’s civil society.”The church and the cultural institutions of the nation need to meet in dialogue and so work together to develop Cuban culture,”John Paul said.


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