Aid to the Church in Need: Cuba: The Beatification of Brother Jose Olallo

Cuba: The Beatification of Brother Jose Olallo

Posted by Press release on 28/11/2008, 12:30 pm
Board Administrator

ACN News, Friday, 28th November 2008 – CUBA

Cuba: A Blessed moment draws near
By John Pontifex

FINAL preparations are underway for a unique ceremony to mark the beatification of a Cuban friar who dedicated his life to the poor and the sick.
Thousands of people are expected to gather in central Camaguey, in the south-east of the island, for Saturday’s (29th November) outdoor Mass in honour of Brother Jose Olallo.
Born in 1820, Brother Olallo entered the Congregation of the Brothers of St John of God and spent the rest of his life nursing the sick, feeding the poor and preparing the terminally for death both in Camaguey city itself and in the towns and villages outside.
When he died, in 1876, crowds followed his coffin to his burial place in Camaguey and quickly a tradition of veneration grew up around him, fostered by the Church.
More than 130 years later, in March 2008, Pope Benedict XVI approved plans for Brother Olallo to be beatified, a move that prompted huge rejoicing in Camaguey and across the island.

(Portrait of Brother Olallo)

Although officially Brother Olallo is the second Cuban to be beatified, the first one, Father Jose Lopez Piteira, spent most of his life outside the country. Born in Cuba, Fr Lopez Piteira lived in Spain for many years and died there in the 1930s during the Spanish Civil War.
In their preparations for the beatification ceremony, Archbishop Juan Garcia of Camaguey and president of the Cuban Bishops’ Conference turned to the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need to help with the celebrations.
Making over a grant of $25,000, the charity is providing food and mattresses to be used by people coming from afar to take part in the ceremony.
ACN is also funding an altar to be used for the outdoor ceremony presided over by Cardinal Jose Saraiva, Prefect Emeritus of the Vatican’s Congregation of the Causes for the Canonisation of Saints.
In homilies and other statements, the Cuban bishops have stressed Brother Olallo’s life and ministry as a supreme example of charity and pastoral care at a time of increased secularism after nearly 50 years of communist rule.
In Camaguey, Archbishop Garcia has organised a series of events building up to the beatification ceremony with Mass, the rosary and vespers taking place every month this year in a church dedicated to St John of God.
A spokesman from Aid to the Church in Need’s projects department said: “Brother Olallo has left a legacy which is a huge inspiration for the Church in Cuba, offering enormous hope both in pastoral and humanitarian terms. ACN is delighted to be able to help with the beatification ceremony which promises to do much to energise the Church in Cuba.

Editor’s Notes:

Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. ACN is a Catholic charity – helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity”, the organisation is now at work in about 145 countries throughout the world.

The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 45 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.

For more information, please contact the Sydney office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web: www.aidtochurch.org

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Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148 ABN: 62 418 911 594
Ph/Fax (02) 9679-1929 e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org web: www.aidtochurch.org