Father Félix Varela: Reformer, Patriot, Servant of God

by Juan Navia, Ph.D., Serra Club of Birmingham, Ala.

It was Dec. 15, 1823. The ship “Draper” had to wait outside New York Harbor for a day because of a heavy blizzard, but the captain was finally able to dock and allow the passengers to come ashore. A thin man with a worn out, heavy black coat walked down the gangplank and looked around for a friendly face. Exiled Cuban priest Father Félix Varela y Morales was about to start a new life.

Father Varela was born in Havana, Cuba, on Nov. 20, 1788. Choosing not to follow in the military careers of his father and grandfather, Varela entered the priesthood and was accepted by the prestigious Seminario de San Carlos y San Ambrosio in Havana. At the age of 23, he was ordained in Havana’s cathedral by Bishop Juan Jose Espada.

Recognizing the young priest’s piety, intelligence and dedication, the bishop helped Varela start a teaching career at the seminary where he had received his priestly formation. For the next 10 years, Varela taught philosophy and science, while instilling in his students love for God, liberty and one another. Varela cultivated a high reputation as a teacher and thinker during that time.

In 1821, when King Ferdinand VII was forced to establish a constitutional government in Spain, Varela was elected to represent Cuba at Las Cortes, Spain’s parliament. There, he defended the right of countries in the Americas to be independent, the responsibility of governments to be just, and the right of black slaves to have freedom and human dignity. Two years later, when the king once again imposed an absolutist form of government in Spain, Varela’s progressive views became unpopular and he was forced to go into exile. He chose to face the challenges of language, culture and climate in New York City.

In New York, Varela became part of a church that had very different kinds of problems than the ones experienced by the church in Cuba or Spain. The professor, fluent in five languages (but not yet in English), who had authored several books about philosophy, theology and science, became a humble parish priest filled with pastoral zeal. Over the next 30 years, Varela exercised his ministry in New York with notable self-sacrifice and heroism. He founded schools for boys and girls, provided pastoral care to the poor Italian and Irish immigrants, and, in 1827, founded Christ Church, the fourth Roman Catholic parish in the city. Later this church became Transfiguration Church, located in the slum section of New York known as Five Points (now Chinatown). During his visit to New York in 1841, Charles Dickens described this area as full of “poverty, wretchedness, vice, decay, and debauchery.” In this poor parish, two of Varela’s major concerns were children and destitute women, for whom he organized a number of practical self-help programs implemented through Sodalities of Women.

In addition to his pastoral work, Varela edited several important Catholic newspapers in New York and became a well-known apologist and defender of the faith, earning the respect of Catholics and Protestants alike. In 1840, he founded the New York Catholic Temperance Association, explaining that the objective of the association was “to abolish intemperance without imposing unnecessary limitations to the majority,” thus recommending total abstinence only for those who found it impossible to control their intake of alcoholic beverages. This display of respect for the freedom of the individual was particularly forward-thinking for the time.

In 1829, Varela was appointed Vicar General of the Diocese of New York by Bishop Jean Dubois. He participated in several of the Provincial Councils held by the U.S. Catholic bishops, lending to them his
expertise in theology, languages and scripture. Meanwhile, he never forgot the poor immigrants around him, and continued to guide Cuban citizens through his letters (El Habanero, 1824-26) and moral writings (Letters to Elpidio, 1835). As well loved and respected as he was in his new home, Spanish political opponents attempted to have him assassinated. Word of this plot got to Varela’s Irish parishioners, and they made sure he never went anywhere unaccompanied. The plot failed.

By 1850, Varela’s almost 30 years of incessant work in America took a toll on his depleted body. Old age and poor health prompted him to escape the cold winters of New York, returning to St. Augustine, Fla., where he had spent some years in his childhood. During the last years of his life he faced sickness, isolation and poverty, but he continued to offer the Eucharist and counseled many parishioners who sought his advice. On Feb. 18, 1853, his condition took a turn for the worse, and Father Edmond Aubril, pastor of the church where Varela had been granted a place to live, gave him last rites. Varela interrupted Aubril and stated, “I now wish to fulfill a promise which I made long ago, to make a profession of faith – at death as in life – in the real presence of Jesus Christ in the blessed Eucharist.”

Looking steadfastly at the elevated host, he said, “I firmly believe that the host you hold in your hand is the body of Jesus Christ under the appearance of bread.” After receiving the Eucharist, he died peacefully, surrounded by parishioners who loved him and deeply mourned his death.

His remains were interred initially at Tolomato Cemetery in St. Augustine and later were moved to the Major Auditorium of the University of Havana. Since then, Varela has been honored with his image appearing on a U.S. commemorative stamp issued in 1997, his name has been adopted by dissidents in Cuba fighting the tyranny of Fidel Castro, and Pope John Paul II visited his final resting place in 1998, declaring him a Servant of God.

Last summer, the Positio, or document describing the life, words and deeds of Father Varela, Servant of God, was completed, and was presented to the bishops in the localities where he lived and worked. It is a massive document of more than 800 pages. Archbishop Pedro Meurice Estiu from Santiago de Cuba and Msgr. Octavio Cisneros, Vicar of the Diocese of New York, are vice-postulators for Varela’s cause. All final comments, reactions and documents will constitute the Acts of the Cause which will be sent to Rome to be reviewed by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

What Father Varela needs to be blessed and canonized is a miracle. Please pray for this Servant of God and dedicated apostle for all immigrants.

Juan M. Navia Ph.D. joined Serra in 1976 and has been an active member of the Serra Club of Birmingham, where he has been president and presently is the vocations vice president. He is a past-governor of District 86 covering Alabama and Northern Florida. His book on Father Varela, An Apostle for the Immigrants, was part of his theology graduate work at the Jesuit Spring Hill College and was published in the fall of 2002. Contact Factor Press, P.O. Box 222, Salisbury, MD 21803 (888-334-6677) if you would like to purchase a copy. Dr. Navia is a Professor Emeritus from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

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