Jaime Lucas Ortega Alamino

Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino was archbishop of the Archdiocese of La Habana, Cuba.

He was born in Jagüey Grande, province of Matanzas.

Education: Seminary of San Alberto Magno, Matanzas; the Seminary of Priests of the Foreign Missions, Québec, Canada.

Priesthood: Ordained priest, August 2, 1964, Matanzas. He worked pastorally in the diocese of Matanzas, 1964-1966. From 1967 to 1978, he worked pastorally in the diocese of Matanzas, especially with youth; president of the diocesan catechetical commission; member of the faculty, inter-diocesan Seminary of San Carlos and San Ambrosio, in La Habana.

Episcopate: Elected Bishop of Pinar Río, December 4, 1978. Consecrated, January 14, 1979, in Matanzas, by Mario Tagliaferri, titular Archbishop of Formia, papal nuncio in Cuba. Promoted to the metropolitan see of San Cristóbal de La Habana, November 20, 1981. President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba, 1988-1999. Attended the IV General Conference of the Latin American Episcopate, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, October 12-28, 1992.

Cardinalate: Created Cardinal presbyter, November 26, 1994; received the red biretta and title of Ss. Aquila and Priscilla, November 26, 1994. Attended the Special Assembly for America of the Synod of Bishops, in Vatican City, from November 16 to December 12, 1997. Sent as special papal envoy to the National Eucharistic Congress of El Salvador, San Salvador, on November 25 and 26, 2000. Elected president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba on December 6, 2001. In the Roman Curia he was a member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. Participated in the conclave of April 18-19, 2005.

Additional information: Author of the spirituality book "Te basta mi gracia" published by Ediciones Palabra, Madrid in 2001. He was named Doctor Honoris Causa by the Universities of Saint Thomas and Barry in Florida, San Francisco (California), Providence (Rhode Island) Boston College (Massachusetts) and St. John University (New York).

On September 8, 1993, the Cuban Conference of Catholic Bishops, led by Cardinal Ortega, published the message "Love Hopes for All" Pastoral Letter Love Hopes for All, harshly critical of the Cuban government and where profound changes in the direction of the country were requested. The message raised harsh criticism from the government, as well as attacks from the official press.

In 2004, the Institution of Humanitarian Merit based in Barcelona awarded him the Grand Cross for Humanitarian Merit. He was also honored with the annual award from the Bonino Pulejo Foundation, of Messina, Italy, among others.

On April 26, 2016, the Pope accepted his resignation due to age. His successor is Juan de la Caridad García Rodríguez, who until then served as Archbishop of Camagüey.

Jaime Ortega Alamino died on July 26, 2019 in Cuba at the age of 82, as a result of pancreatic cancer.