The Vatican Remembers the Figure of Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino

December 5, 2019

Pontifical Lateran University delivered on November 22nd, the Laurea Honoris Causa in Legal Sciences-History of Law to Doctor Eusebio Leal Spengler, a title very dear to the deceased Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino for his friend. In gratitude, Spengler dedicates a Lectio Magistralis to him. The Cuban cardinal died on July 26th.

At the ceremony for presenting the title to Spengler, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone participated, the rector of the athenaeum, Vincenzo Buonomo; the ambassador of Cuba to the Holy See, Jorge Quesada Concepción; and the Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, Cardinal Beniamino Stella.

Next, the Lectio Magistralis of Doctor Honoris Causa, Eusebio Leal Spengler was heard, dedicated to the cardinal with the title: To Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino: the pastor and the man. In praise of priestly virtue.

Doctor Leal dedicates his lecture, thanking his friendship with the deceased cardinal, and his wishes during his lifetime to achieve that he would receive this title. Furthermore, he traces the history of the Church in Cuba, and the important moments in which Cuba received three Popes: Saint John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis.

Later in his intervention through a video message, Spengler recalls the life of the cardinal. Jaime Ortega was created Cardinal on November 26, 1994 by Saint John Paul II, he was "a man of forgiveness and reconciliation, a bridge builder," said Spengler, and he recalled on several occasions when he attended the cardinal's dialogues with General President Raúl Castro.

"I was a witness," he said, "to the healing and prophetic character of those encounters. In response to a letter from the Cardinal protesting acts of violence committed against some people, whether or not they had reasons for it, the head of state responded by giving him the responsibility to manage the release of prisoners, insisting that for this reason it was only the merit of the church represented in him. These exchanges were repeated on many occasions to address various topics. The visit of Pope John Paul II to Cuba, in January 1998, long delayed for various reasons, was a stellar moment".

After the visit of the Pontiffs to the island, in February 2016, another memorable event of global repercussion took place on Cuban soil: the encounter between Pope Francis, Patriarch of the West and Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia; a public contact that was happening for the first time after 1000 years of separation. Cuba became once again a stage of Harmony and Peace. We owe much to Cardinal Jaime, affirmed Spengler.

Another action of the cardinal that Spengler recalled was the return of priests to Cuba, especially Cuban priests; for this he carried out intensive work in international relations in favor of a church that was not subsidized by the state and that did not subordinate itself to it. "All of this counted on his sympathy, his smile, his character always full of hope," Spengler adds, many times we repeated together that motto: they will not ask us for accounts of what was taken from us but of what we did not do". Furthermore, he fulfilled the difficult mission entrusted to him by Pope Francis, to travel to the United States and hold a previously arranged interview with President Barack Obama, in the gardens of the White House. Without a doubt, said Spengler, in the subsequent events and in the hope of contributing to improving relations between both nations, in pursuit of normalization, the Cardinal played a discreet and useful role.

When he turned 75 years old, he availed himself of Canon 401 of Canon Law and presented "his resignation from his position to the Supreme Pontiff." Holy Father Francis had kept his letter in the desk drawer, extending his episcopate for a while longer. Jaime retired to Spain, between April 19 and 25, 2017, with the Carmelite Fathers in the Convent of San Juan de la Cruz, in Segovia. On the 23rd, in his own handwriting, his friend Eusebio Leal Spengler recalls, he wrote an intense and painful reflection, an examination of conscience and spiritual testament. In the manuscript he narrates the beginnings of his vocation, his youthful indifference and his subsequent conversations with Father Cristóbal of the Order of the Discalced Carmelites, his spiritual director, who recommended that he go to the Bishop of Matanzas to express to him the clear conviction that he should be a priest.

"Throughout these meditations one can verify the deep-rooted vocation of Cardinal Ortega who entrusted the last stretch of his life to Saint John of the Cross. In them he makes clear that he has "suffered greatly, intimate, existential sufferings", but assures that "even in lesser things, in small projects or in great works, the hand of God is always there." And he confesses: "I have learned to see it." My faith and his were absolutely united. The words of Saint Paul the Apostle presided over our dialogues: charity believes all, forgives all".

We spoke for the last time together with his doctor, Spengler pointed out finally:
"when he could barely hear or speak a word, "I took his hands and he named me: friend, friend…. I always carry those words in my heart". I receive with humility the robe that you have conferred upon me. Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints of the Holy See, told me that in it was the testimony of the particular affection and benevolence of Holy Father Francis".

Eusebio Leal Spengler, doctor in Historical Sciences from the University of Havana, among other titles, has written essays, prologues and articles on the history of Cuba, art, restoration and other topics of a general nature. He has delivered master and academic lectures at prominent Houses of Studies, Museums and Scientific Institutions, among which should be mentioned the different Cuban universities, universities in several countries of Latin America, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy, among others.