Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Illescas (Agenzia Fides) - Today, May 7, the members of the Cuban Bishops’ Conference, led by their President, Archbishop Juan Garcia of Camaguey, after having completed their Ad Limina visit to the Vatican, will visit the official Sanctuary of “Nuestra Señora de la Caridad” (Our Lady of Charity), in Illescas (in Toledo, Spain), coming into contact with the historical roots of the Caribbean island’s patroness, “La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre.”
The act, which was promoted and organized by the Parish of Saint Mary and the Foundation of the Hospital “Nuestra Señora de la Caridad,” will be an act of brotherhood between the Church in Cuba and that in Illescas, who have been united for centuries for their common devotion to the Virgin Mary, said a report from the Archdiocese of Toledo. The pastoral visit of the Cuban Bishops’ Conference will conclude with a Mass celebrated at noon in the Sanctuary, by one of the Bishops from Cuba’s eleven diocese. At 2pm, the Bishops from the Dioceses in Castilla-La Mancha (Spanish region) will arrive there. Following a meeting in the city of Toledo, they will go to Illescas for an encounter with the Cuban Bishops.
The devotion to “La Virgen de la Caridad” dates back very far and originates in Illescas and the surrounding areas, reaching the height of its splendor in the 14th Century. A little over a century after the devotion reached the island of Cuba, a man from Illescas named Francisco Sanchez de Moya built a sanctuary to the Mother of God with this title in “Minas de Cobre” (from whence it later received its name). On May 10, 1916, Pope Benedict XV declared “La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre” the Patroness of Cuba and her feast, September 8. On January 24, 1998, John Paul II crowned her image in the city of Santiago de Cuba, as Queen of Cuba. In the months of preparation prior to John Paul II’s visit to Cuba, ten pilgrim images of the “Virgen de la Caridad” travelled throughout the various dioceses of the country, receiving an outpouring of devotion from the people.
The Church in Cuba is currently preparing for the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the “Virgen de la Caridad” among its people, as a “time of grace for spreading the Gospel.” At the end of January, a group of 40 people from all the dioceses of Cuba met in El Cobre, led by the Primate of Cuba, Archbishop Dionisio Garcia Ibañez, in order to compose the draft of a 4-year program that will compliment the current Church Pastoral Plan and with the 2012 celebration of the 400th anniversary of “La Virgen de la Caridad.” (RG) (Agenzia Fides 7/5/2008; righe 33, parole 447)
