Poor People’s Priest Brings Catholic Leaders to Cuba

HAVANA TIMES, Dec. 1- Cuban President Raul Castro attended Saturday the beatification of Friar Jose Olallo Valdes, held in the city of Camagüey. Vatican representative Cardinal Jose Saraiva from Portugal presided over the ceremony lifting the 19th century “father of the poor” to sainthood. Doves were released and bells rung as Friar Olallo’s remains, in a gold colored urn, were taken in a procession through the city, reported the BBC. Friar Olallo, a member of the Hospitallier Order of Saint John of God, helped the sick and wounded during Cuba’s first war of independence (1868-1878) against Spain.