By Eduardo Berdejo
EWTN News
The Vatican Publishing House recently released the first Italian edition of the book “Félix Varela: A Biography,” a work about the priest considered by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia to be “a sort of founder of [Cuban] national culture through his works and writings.”
The 208-page volume, published July 9, was written by Monsignor Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, a prominent figure in the Cuban Catholic Church who passed away in Havana in 2014.
Paglia, president emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for Life, wrote the book’s foreword, noting in it that “the relationship between Varela and Cuban society is very profound.”
This is because Varela’s writings “shaped an identity deeply linked to a faith expressed in a new humanism, where the primacy of conscience was supreme and the condemnation of slavery and the need for independence were fundamental,” the archbishop explained, according to a Vatican News report.
Varela was a priest committed to social issues who lived during a time of profound change in the territories then held by the Spanish Empire in the Americas, according to the report.
He was born in Havana on Nov. 20, 1788. Thanks to his high standing, he was sent to Spain in 1821 to represent the island before the parliament in Madrid.
However, his legislative proposals to abolish slavery on the island, declare Cuban independence, and establish a government for the overseas provinces led to his exile in 1823; consequently, he was forced to settle in New York, where he lived while serving as a parish priest and episcopal vicar.
In his preface, Paglia wrote that, in both Cuba and the United States, Varela fostered “efforts toward freedom, teaching love and stirring hearts to choose the poor as their primary companions on the journey.”
Varela’s parish in New York “was interethnic and intercultural.” Moreover, he dedicated himself especially to immigrants, establishing a system of social and charitable assistance unprecedented in the United States. He was convinced that a mission centered on the Gospel could give rise to a more just and compassionate society.
Varela’s legacy
The Cuban priest passed away in St. Augustine, Florida, on Feb. 27, 1853, leaving behind works such as “ Letters to Elpidio on Impiety, Superstition, and Fanaticism in Their Relationship with Society,” a work described by St. John Paul II during his 1998 apostolic journey to Cuba as a “true monument of moral teaching.”
“It’s no coincidence,” Vatican News pointed out, “that his work can be described as ‘civilizing’: an exemplary priest, a ‘principled patriot,’ and ‘the first to teach us how to think,’ Varela was able to revitalize pedagogical methods and the teaching of philosophy, theology, law, and science, creating a synthesis in which faith and culture become inseparable dimensions.”
Furthermore, as Paglia noted, in a “contemporary world where we often face incredible forms of violence and dangerous political divisions,” Varela “represents the possibility of unity.”
He was “a truly Catholic — that is, universal — priest,” Paglia wrote, and therefore “reflects the message of the Gospel, which does not divide but unites, while respecting individual differences.”
Paglia also noted that Varela’s message is in line with Popes Leo XIV and Francis: “Three witnesses from the Americas inviting the Americas to a renewed enthusiasm for a missionary vocation that places faith at the service of a society fervently rooted in the Gospel.”
Varela was declared venerable by Benedict XVI in March 2012. The Vatican decree highlights that “the Servant of God stands out on the horizon of Cuba’s history as a figure remarkable for his human gifts and for his Christian and priestly virtues.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
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