By Florida Catholic staff - Florida Catholic
Photographer: COURTESY PHOTO
Christine de Marcellus de Vollmer receives this year's Tuitio Fidei award at the Cuban Association of the Order of Malta's 12th annual White Cross Gala. Pictured are Gala Host Committee Chairman Fernando Garcia-Chacon y Chacon, left, and Association President Juan Jose Calvo y de Dios.
MIAMI | The Cuban Association of the Order of Malta celebrated its 12th annual White Cross Gala at the Riviera Country Club Oct. 14. The event was established to raise funds for the charitable works supported by the Cuban Association to serve the poor and the sick, especially in the area of social and health services.
President Juan Jose Calvo y de Dios and Gala Host Committee Chairman Fernando Garcia-Chacon y Chacon welcomed guests to the gala. The invocation was given by Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who is the chief chaplain of the Cuban Association. Other guests included Coral Gables Mayor Raul Valdes-Fauli and H.E. Alvaro Colom, former President of Bolivia.
This year’s Tuitio Fidei (Defense of the Faith) honoree was Christine de Marcellus de Vollmer, founder and president of the Latin American Alliance for the Family. Vollmer has been a member of the Pontifical Council for the Family for over 15 years. She is also a founding member of the Pontifical Academy for Life.
Since 1984, within the Alliance for the Family, a team headed by Vollmer has developed a new pedagogy to effectively teach children and young people the necessary values, virtues and skills for successful married and family life. Centered on the Alive to the World curriculum, it is now international and welcomed by people of all faiths.
In 2006, the Cuban Association of the Order of Malta, wanting to highlight and exalt the figure of those who with total devotion and sacrifice have dedicated themselves to the promotion, adherence and fidelity to the principles of the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Faith, created the Tuitio Fidei Prize, one of the charisms of the Order, to highlight the figure of those who exemplarily have fulfilled it.
The Cuban Association of the Order of Malta is a non-profit organization established in Cuba in 1952 and in the United States in 1993. Its mission is to serve the poor and the sick, especially in the area of social and health services. Funded with donations from members, volunteers and collaborators, the Cuban Association serves the San Juan Bosco parish clinic, conducts medical missions to the Dominican Republic and works with the Catholic Church in Cuba to support more than 68 parish care and assistance centers for the elderly on the island. For more information, visit www.ordendemaltacuba.org.
Photographer: COURTESY PHOTO
Celebrating the White Cross Gala with the Cuban Association of the Knights of Malta, from left, are the association's president, Juan Jose Calvo y de Dios; Maria Cristina Diaz, who was awarded the Order of Merito Melitense that evening for her work as Gala Committee Coordinator for the past 12 years; Archbishop Thomas Wenski; and Christine de Marcellus de Vollmer, recipient of this year's Tuitio Fidei award, accompanied by Manolo Diaz.
