By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Photographer: Courtesy
From left: Father Patrick O'Neill, former president of St. Thomas University in Miami (STU); Bishop Enrique Delgado, Auxiliary Bishop of Miami; Cardinal Juan de la Caridad García, Archbishop of Havana; Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski; Bishop Eloy Ricardo Domínguez Martínez, Auxiliary Bishop of Havana; and Father Rafael Capo, vice president for Mission at STU, pose for a photo in front of the reconstructed chapel of the former Santo Tomás de Villanueva University in Havana, April 24, 2024.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski preached this homily during the Mass of Thanksgiving at the former University Santo Tomás de Villanueva chapel in Havana, Cuba, April 24, 2024. The Mass was presided by Cardinal Juan de la Caridad García, Archbishop of Havana. Present at the Mass were the Auxiliary Bishop of Miami, Enrique Delgado; Father Patrick O'Neill, former president of St. Thomas University in Miami (STU); David Armstrong, president of STU, and Father Rafael Capo, vice president for Mission of STU; and representatives of the Catholic Extension Society.
Llegue esta misma tarde de Miami para estar con ustedes en esta Misa de Acción de Gracias por la restauración de esta capilla, que vuelve a ser un faro de luz para todos los que pasan por aquí.
More than a decade ago, this chapel, which was part of the Catholic University of Habana, known as la Universidad de Santo Tomás de Villanueva, was returned to the Church. I visited this chapel several times since then, and it was pretty much in ruins – with the statue of St. Thomas – without a head – still standing in front of the abandoned and unmaintained temple.
In the Gospel reading of today’s Mass, Jesus says: “I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness.”
Photographer: Courtesy
Inside image of Santo Tomás de Villanueva and San Charbel church in Havana, Cuba. This church served as the chapel of Santo Tomás de Villanueva University before its closure in 1961. It was returned to the Archdiocese of Havana in 2015 and rebuilt with the support of St. Thomas University of Miami and Catholic Extension and was re-consecrated in February of this year.
This renovated and restored chapel becomes once again a beacon of light to all who pass by. We thank the Catholic Extension Society, which has supported projects throughout Cuba, and they were able to make this work possible through the generosity of Father Patrick O’Neil. He was an Augustinian, as were the founders of Santo Tomás de Villanueva University. He knew Father Lorenzo Spirali, who arrived in Philadelphia and worked as a street sweeper until he obtained an education from the Augustinians and entered their order. In Almendares, Havana, he built three churches and the seven main buildings of the Villanueva campus. Father O’Neil also knew Father Kelly, the last Augustinian president of Villanueva. Father Kelly, in the anti-Yankee sentiment in the early years of the Revolution, resigned his position as president in favor of Auxiliary Bishop Eduardo Bosa-Masvidal, a Cuban. Father O’Neil would later recruit Fr. Kelly to work at Biscayne College, which later became what we know today as St. Thomas University.
Patrick, this is certainly an emotional day for you. Thank you for being here – and for making this beautiful work possible.
Esta capilla es un faro de luz, en medio de las tinieblas de estos tiempos muy difíciles que transita Cuba. Esta capilla renovada y restaurada es un símbolo esperanzador muy necesario hoy cuando “el cubano sufre, llora y carece de lo esencial”.
En Miami, en la Pequeña Habana, en un pequeño parque, hay un mapa del relieve de Cuba donde aparecen estas palabras tan emotivas del Apóstol de Cuba, José Martí: La patria es agonía y deber.
Delante de esta agonía, los obispos y los fieles de Cuba, quieren cumplir con su deber. Por eso, han rezado y siguen rezando a Dios diciendo: “¡Necesitamos tu ayuda, consuelo y fortaleza! Solos no podemos encontrar caminos de armonía y convivencia fraterna. Necesitamos de tu Espíritu Santo para que nos asista en esos empeños y para buscar soluciones sabias y verdaderas a los graves y urgentes problemas que nos afligen como pueblo, de modo que cambien nuestras condiciones de vida”.
Photographer: Courtesy
Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski (center), Father Rafael Capo (left), vice president of Mission of St. Thomas University in Miami (STU), and David Armstrong, president of STU, pose for a photo in front of the reconstructed chapel of the former Santo Tomás de Villanueva University in Havana, Cuba, April 24, 2024.
Today, this small group of donors and members of St. Thomas University, where the spirit of Villanueva lives on, join our prayers to those of Cuban Catholics across the island and beyond. We pray hoping against hope because there is nothing impossible for God.
We make our prayer the prayer of Pope Benedict XVI when he visited in 2012: “Cuba will be the home of all and for all Cubans, where justice and freedom coexist in a climate of serene fraternity. Respect and promotion of freedom, which are present in the heart of each person, are essential in order to respond adequately to the fundamental demands of his or her dignity and, in this way, to build up a society in which all are indispensable actors in the future of their life, their family, and their country.”
El Papa Benedicto XVI en su encíclica, Spe Salvi, dijo: “Un mundo sin Dios es un mundo sin esperanza; un mundo sin Dios es un mundo sin futuro”.
Que esta capilla nos renueve y fortalezca la fe en Dios del pueblo cubano para que Cuba no crea que está sin Dios. Que la luz de Cristo que emana de esta capilla asegure a este pueblo sufrido que, sí, hay esperanza, que, sí, hay futuro.
Como el Papa Benedicto pidió en su discurso de despedida en marzo de 2012, que “Cuba sea la casa de todos y para todos los cubanos, donde convivan la justicia y la libertad, en un clima de serena fraternidad. El respeto y cultivo de la libertad que late en el corazón de todo hombre es imprescindible para responder adecuadamente a las exigencias fundamentales de su dignidad, y construir así una sociedad en la que cada uno se sienta protagonista indispensable del futuro de su vida, su familia y su patria”.
Faith in Jesus Christ is a light that dispels the darkness – as we prayed in the Paschal Vigil. May this chapel be a beacon of faith, and renewed hope for the people of Cuba and help them to know that for God, nothing is impossible.
