On Saturday, July 27, in the Cathedral of San Isidoro, priests and Catholics from the diocese and other communities of Holguín, presided over by Bishop Emilio Aranguren Echeverría, paid homage to Pedro Poveda on his feast day and thanked God for the Pontifical Approval of the Teresian Association in 1924. The event consisted of a Eucharist followed by a cultural gala participated by several groups.
The bishop, in the homily of the Eucharist, invited those present to “gratefully remember” and recalled some moments that preceded the arrival of the Teresian Association in Cuba, such as teaching Cuban students who were beginning to arrive in the Archdiocese of Miami in the 60s of the twentieth century; Cuban-Americans who joined the TA as members; visits to Cuba to inform about the Cuban Church and provide a service of being a bridge between the two shores... “This is the result of the Approval that we are gratefully remembering today!” he said.
The bishop pointed out features of the trajectory of the TA from its beginnings and in its different stages and affirmed that “to remember is not to propagandize the good things, nor to highlight the negative in a tone of victimhood.”
He congratulated the members of the TA in Cuba, Canada and the United States who have San Pedro Poveda as their patron saint and asked them to bring to life the agreements emanating from the international meeting of the TA Associations (2023): that the reality we live in must be assumed and not evaded by complaining; to teach how to care for and defend the dignity of each person as the child of God; “to weave, in the midst of our people, fraternity and communion to be builders of peace.”
Video Summary
An inter-parish choir accompanied with their voices the different moments of the Eucharist and at the end several priests expressed their gratitude for the presence and collaboration of members of the TA in their communities. The priests present received a copy of the book by Carlos Osoro, Siguiendo las huellas de Pedro Poveda: Sacerdotes en la entraña de nuestra cultura, (Following in the footsteps of Pedro Poveda: Priests at the center of our culture) edited by Narcea, 2003.
Cultural Gala
At the cultural gala that followed the Eucharist, the temple was filled with songs and performances by Holguin groups paying tribute to the founder of the Teresian Association and his Andalusian land. Poveda's name resonated loud and clear.
The artistic director Yensy Cruz Ricardo named the 30 countries where the charism of the Teresian Association has been embodied since 1924, including Cuba, and presented the program of the gala that began with young people from the “Monica Dance Company” performing the “Rumba a Poveda” (lyrics and music by Elia Fleta).
Members of the “Words to the Wind Oral Storytelling Company” then told stories such as “Good People”, “The Bird of the Soul” and “The Fan Seller”. Ley Verdecia and Llanet Velázquez performed the Centenary song “Pedro Poveda tu nombre” composed by the Veritas School in Madrid.
In the diocesan library, the party continued with an exhibition about the TA, with panels, books, videos and a toast. They all concluded by singing Cuban songs with great animation.
A. Cantero, Holguín.
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