John Paul II and Félix Varela: ‘the true Father of Cuban culture’
(Vatican Radio) On the 19th of September Pope Francis will become the third pope to visit Cuba in the past 17 years, following in the footsteps of Saint John Paul II in 1998 and Benedict XVI, now pope emeritus in 2012 .
During his stay in Cuba his schedule includes the celebration of three Holy Masses with the Cuban faithful before flying to the United States on the 22nd of September.
As we know Cuba has a strong Marian devotion and one of the masses Pope Francis will preside over will take place at the National Shrine of “Our Lady of Charity of Cobre”.
But the Catholic Church in Cuba doesn’t only have a strong Marian devotion it also has some key figures to its name. Among these the Servant of God Félix Varela and the man to inherit his legacy José Marti. And on the evening of the 20th of September while in Havana Pope Francis will visit a cultural centre dedicated to Varela, the ‘Centro de Estudio P.Félix Varela’.
A programme presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick:
To find out more about these two figures Veronica Scarisbrick steps back in time to that first historic visit of John Paul II to Cuba in 1998. A journey which took him on the 23rd of January of that year to the University of Havana where he venerated the relics of this great priest and patriot whom he described on this occasion as the true ‘Father’ of Cuban culture:
“He is, in his own person, the best synthesis one could find of Christian faith and Cuban culture. An exemplary priest of Havana and an undeniable patriot, Fr Varela was an outstanding thinker who in 19th-century Cuba renewed the method and content of teaching in philosophy, law, science and theology. To generations of Cubans, he taught that to assume full responsibility for our existence we must first learn the difficult art of thinking in a right way and with our own mind. He was the first to speak of independence in these lands. He also spoke of democracy, judging it to be the political project best in keeping with human nature, while at the same time underscoring its demands. Among these demands, he stressed two in particular: first, that people must be educated for freedom and responsibility, with a personally assimilated ethical code which includes the best of the heritage of civilization and enduring transcendental values, so that they may be able to undertake decisive tasks in service of the community; and second, that human relationships, like the form of society as a whole, must give people suitable opportunities to perform, with proper respect and solidarity, their historic role giving substance to the rule of law, which is the essential guarantee of every form of human concourse claiming to be democratic.
During this visit to the University of Havana Pope John Paul also highlighted Father Varela’s awareness that in his time, independence was as yet unattainable ideal and so devoted his time to training people, men and women of conscience, who were neither high-handed with the weak nor weak with the powerful. And again how during his New York exile, he used a range of means to pursue his goal: personal letters, the press and what might be judged his finest work, Letters to Elpidio concerning impiety, superstition and fanaticism in relation to society, a true monument of moral teaching, his precious legacy to the young people of Cuba. How in the last 30 years of his life, far away from Havana, he continued to teach from afar and so gave birth to a school of thought, a vision of human society and an attitude towards one’s own country which even today should enlighten all Cubans. The entire life of Fr Varela, Pope John Paul remarked was inspired by a profound Christian spirituality:
“This was his deep driving-force, the wellspring of his virtues, the root of his commitment to the Church and to Cuba: to seek the glory of God in all things. This led him to believe in the power of little things, in the creative force of seeds of truth, in the appropriateness of changes being made step by step towards great and authentic reforms. “….“Christ is the way which leads man to the fullness of life, the way which leads to a society which is more just, more free, more human, more caring. The love for Christ and for Cuba which illumined Fr Varela’s life is part of the indestructible root of Cuban culture. A legacy taken up, shortly after his death, by another striking figure of this country, José Martí: a writer and a teacher in the fullest sense of the word, deeply committed to democracy and independence, a patriot, a loyal friend even to those who did not share his political programme. He was above all an enlightened man, faithful to his ethical values and stirred by a spirituality the roots of which are outstandingly evangelical. He is regarded as the heir of the thought of Fr Varela, whom he called “the Cuban saint”.