The new Bishop-Elect of the Newark Archdiocese Manuel A. Cruz, a Cuban refugee, gives special thanks for the role of the Daughters of Charity in his life in Cuba.
“As a refugee, I learned that everything is a gift, a gift that comes from God’s loving hands.
“By Divine Providence I am deeply moved that in this audience today sits a nun, a Daughter of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, who is visiting me for medical assistance, and who knew me when I was a child in Cuba. At that time she was a novice, and for more than 30 years she has been the cook of that nursing home where I attended to the priests as they brought Holy Communion to the sick of the Hospital. It was this Religious Community that fed me every day so that I would not go to school hungry. It was her superior, the saintly Sister Monica Cabodevilla, who touched my childhood so deeply as she prepared me for the sacrament of Holy Communion in the pharmacy of that Nursing Home.
“Only as an adult have I come to appreciate the many sacrifices this community endured in order to give witness to the Gospel by serving the poor in Cuba.
Tags: Daughters of Charity
