José Olallo Valdés - Father of the Poor (Granma, November 28, 2008)

A CubaNews translation.
Edited by Walter Lippmann.

Abel Marrero Campanioni in his book Traditions of Camagüey recorded that, on the dawn of May 12, 1873, a column of Spanish soldiers burst into St. John of God Square to leave at the hospital the wounded and a body slumped over a beast.

As the story goes two soldiers untied the ropes and the body immediately fell to the ground in the middle of the square, for all to see. Its face was completely covered with mud as the body had been carried face down along the rain-soaked roads.

"When Brother Olallo learned of this sacrilege, he ordered the body to be placed on a stretcher and taken to the hospital corridor. A commemorative plaque was later placed to honor this deed. Father Olallo took out his own handkerchief to wipe away the all the blood and the mud from the face of the greatest man in Camagüey (...).”

The Major's grandson, Eugenio Betancourt, in his book Ignacio Agramonte and the Cuban Revolution, also tells that Fray Olallo Valdés, together with Father Manuel Martínez, washed the patriot's face with rum and laid the body inside the St. John of God Hospital for public viewing. He corroborates what is stated in inspector Antonio Olarte's records to the effect that he found Agramonte's body “(...) placed face up on a black wooden platform with his arms extended alongside his body and his head resting on a pillow (...).”

Who was this intensely humane individual who defied the Spanish enemy's wrath and kept them from further defiling the body of Camagüey's beloved son?

José Olallo Valdés had been abandoned as a newborn babe at Havana's orphanage with a note stating that he was born on February 12, 1820.

Fifteen-year-old Olallo arrived in Port-au-Prince as a member of the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God, to give his support to the local hospital in their fight against the cholera epidemic that was beginning to hit the country.

This hospital offered medical care to poor whites, slaves, blacks and free mulattoes, inmates remitted from prison, bandits that had been wounded or killed as they were being captured. After the War of 1868 broke out, mambi soldiers caught by the enemy were also sent to this facility, mostly after being executed or killed.

This man dedicated more than half a century to the care of the sick as Head Nurse, a post which he held almost since his arrival at the hospital. He did his best to guarantee the hygiene and the food of the sick, whom he personally bathed and whose clothes he washed in the waters of the Hatibonico River. He prepared medications, ointments and inhalations, based mostly on natural and traditional Cuban medicine, homeopathy included, all of which he taught to the few persons whose help he could count on.

There was only one doctor in charge of the three civil hospitals in the city, so Olallo himself received and cared for the sick and the wounded that arrived at the hospital. More often than not he had to practice emergency surgery in order to save their lives.

Once Brother Olallo had to operate on an inmate, and the surgery was later described by Dr. Miguel de Zayas as a successful operation.

The work of this outstanding nurse saved many patients from getting gangrene. However, he was often forced to amputate in cases that reached him when there was no other possible solution, but in the end, they survived.

Leprosy, sleeping sickness, malaria, typhus, diphtheria, rabies, small pox, dysentery, consumption, tetanus, yellow fever, famine, among others, accompanied him in his permanent vigil over the sick, days and nights, without any rest, caring for all, whether Cuban or Spanish, slaves or freemen.

He always found time to teach the three R´s to the poor children in the neighborhood.

Upon his death on March 7, 1889, Olallo, who, without being a priest, had already become known as the Father of the Poor, inspired expressions in the local press such as: "Camagüey is in mourning. It is filled with grief. Every person with a heart, everyone who knows what gratitude means, has wept.”

Havana, Friday November 28, 2008. Year 12 / Number 331

José Olallo Valdés

was born on February 12, 1820 in the city of Havana. A month later he was left at the St. Joseph Orphanage in Havana, where he was baptized on March 15 of the same year. The identity of his parents is unknown.

Due to his need to serve the sick and marginalized, he joined the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God. In 1835, when he was 15 years old, he was sent to work at the St. John of God Hospital in Port-au-Prince (today Camagüey) to complete his religious and professional training.

There he fought bravely against the many great epidemics that hit the city at the time. Small pox was the last epidemic to decimate Port-au-Prince towards the end of 1888. His solid medical training enabled him to perform, more than once, as a surgeon and a pharmacist.

On May 12, 1873, when Major General Ignacio Agramonte's body was taken to the square located in front of the hospital, Brother Olallo, defying the Spanish soldiers, picked up his body from the ground, asked that it be moved to the hospital on a stretcher, and washed the remains of this outstanding patriot.

Brother Olallo passed away on March 7, 1889 in his humble hospital cell. Despite being ill and having almost no strength left, he never abandoned his work.

In 1901, City Hall decreed that the Street of the Poor and St. John of God Square be named after Brother Olallo. At present, the street still bears his name.

On November 27, 1999, the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God founded in the Father Olallo Nursing Home in the city of Camagúey.

On March 8, 2004 his remains were moved from the General Cemetery in the province of Camagüey to the Church of St. John of God, where he worked during 54 years in the 19th century.

CAMAGUEY, Cuba, Nov 29 (acn) Cuban President Raul Castro Ruz today attended the beatification here of Friar Juanino Jose Olallo, the first ceremony of its kind that takes place in Cuba.

Beatification Ceremony of Friar Juanino Jose Olallo The mass was held at the Plaza de la Libertad square, across from the Iglesia de La Caridad Church and was also attended by Vice President Esteban Lazo and other government and Communist Party officials in this eastern city.

Monsignor Juan Garcia Rodriguez, Archbishop of Camaguey, presented the bishops and representatives of the Diocese of Cuba and other countries; Deacon Miguel Angel Ortiz handed over to President Raul Castro a polyglot bible.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Jose Saraiva, Emeritus Prefect of the Congregación para la Causa de los Santos (the Saints´ Cause Congregation) and representative of Pope Benedict XVI read the Apostolic Letter on the beatification of Friar Olallo.

Beatification Ceremony of Friar Juanino Jose Olallo Priest Felix Lizaso, brother with the Hospitable Order of San Juan de Dios presented a brief history of the life and work of Friar Olallo. Following the unveiling of a huge image of Olallo, his remains were taken in procession to the altar.

In the end of the ceremony William Martin Forkan, Fray Donatus, Superior General of the Hospitable Order of San Juan de Dios extended his gratefulness to Cuban authorities and also referred to the life of Friar Olallo.

Friar Olallo: Bibliographical Information

Friar Jose Olallo Valdes was born February 12, 1820 in Havana. His will to serve the sick and the marginalized made him a member of the San Juan de Dios Brothers Order. At the age of 15, in 1835, he was appointed by the religious order to the San Juan de Dios Hospital, in eastern Camaguey province (formerly known as Puerto Principe), so that he completed his religious and professional formation. With a solid medical training, he was able to work as surgeon and pharmacist.

On May 12, 1873, friar Olallo defied the Spanish soldiers as he took the dead body of Independence fighter, Mayor General Ignacio Agramonte into the hospital to be washed.

Friar Olallo passed away March 7, 1889 in his humble hospital cell where he never stopped working. In 1901, the city government named a local street and a square after Friar Olallo. The street still bears his name. On November 27, 1999, the Hospitable Order of the San Juan de Dios Brothers founded the Friar Olallo elderly home.

The remains of Friar Olallo were transferred, March 8 2004, from the General Cemetery to the San Juan de Dios Church, where he worked during 54 years in the 19th century.
AIN Photo/ Rodolfo Blanco Cue
http://www.cubanews.ain.cu/2008/1129ceremoniacamag.htm

La Habana, viernes 28 de noviembre de 2008. Año 12 / Número 331

Mañana, ceremonia de Beatificación de Fray Olallo

Mañana 29 de noviembre a las 8 a.m. en Camagüey, tendrá lugar la ceremonia de Beatificación de Fray José Olallo Valdés, Hermano Hospitalario de la Orden de San Juan de Dios, la que se celebrará por primera vez en nuestra Patria y estará presidida por el Cardenal José Saraiva Martins, Prefecto emérito de la Congregación para la Causa de los Santos.

Al declarar beato al Padre Olallo, como popularmente se le conoce, la Iglesia Católica reconoce públicamente que vivió de manera extraordinaria las virtudes cristianas, destacándose por su santidad. La iglesia autorizará que desde ese momento, se le pueda brindar un culto público en el país.

http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/2008/11/28/nacional/artic02.html

Apuntaba Abel Marrero Campanioni en su libro Tradiciones camagüeyanas, que al amanecer del 12 de mayo de 1873, irrumpe en la Plaza de San Juan de Dios una columna española para dejar en el Hospital un número de heridos, y un cadáver atravesado al lomo de una bestia.

Continúa la descripción que dos soldados desataron las sogas y de inmediato cayó el cadáver en medio de la Plaza, a la vista de todos, con el rostro cubierto de lodo por haber sido conducido doblado en dos, y estar los caminos llenos de agua por las lluvias de mayo.

"Al conocer aquel sacrilegio, el Padre Olallo ordenó una camilla y fue conducido al pasillo del Hospital, lugar donde se ha señalado con una tarja este hecho; allí, sacando su propio pañuelo de su bolsillo, limpió el rostro ensangrentado y enlodado del más grande de los camagüeyanos (¼ )".

Narra también el nieto de El Mayor, Eugenio Betancourt en su libro Ignacio Agramonte y la Revolución cubana que Fray Olallo Valdés, en compañía del Padre Manuel Martínez, lavaron el rostro del patriota con aguardiente y tendieron el cadáver en el interior del Hospital de San Juan de Dios, a la vista pública; corroboró el acta del inspector Antonio Olarte, insertada en el citado texto, que encontró al cadáver de Agramonte "(¼ ) colocado en unas andas de madera teñidas de negro, boca arriba, con las piernas y los brazos extendidos, y apoyada la cabeza en una almohada (¼ )".

¿Quién fue este hombre que con tanta humanidad, desafiando la ira del enemigo español, impidió que se siguiera ultrajando al querido hijo del Camagüey?

José Olallo Valdés era expósito de la Casa Cuna de La Habana, donde lo abandonaron con una nota en la que daba constancia de su nacimiento el 12 de febrero de 1820.

A los 15 años llegó a Puerto Príncipe como religioso profeso de la Orden Hospitalaria de San Juan de Dios, para reforzar el hospital de esta ciudad, dada la proximidad de una epidemia de cólera morbus que azotaba el país.

La instalación se dedicaba a la atención de hombres blancos pobres, esclavos, negros y pardos libres, confinados enfermos, remitidos desde prisión, bandoleros heridos o muertos durante su captura; luego del estallido de la Guerra del 68 también llegaban allí mambises que caían en manos del enemigo, casi siempre después de fusilados o asesinados.

Más de medio siglo de su vida consagró este hombre a servir a los enfermos como Enfermero Mayor, cargo que ocupó casi desde sus inicios en el Hospital, procuraba el aseo y la alimentación de los enfermos, a quienes bañaba personalmente y luego lavaba sus ropas y vendajes en las aguas del Hatibonico; preparaba los medicamentos, unturas, y sahumerios, casi todos a base de medicina natural y tradicional cubana, incluida la homeopatía, en lo que instruía a los pocos ayudantes con que pudo contar.

Un solo médico era encargado de la asistencia en los tres hospitales civiles de la ciudad, de ahí que Olallo recibía y atendía personalmente a los enfermos y heridos que llegaban al hospital, a quienes en más de una ocasión tuvo que practicarles cirugía de urgencia para salvar sus vidas.

En una oportunidad, un enfermo preso fue sometido a una operación por el Padre Olallo, que posteriormente fue calificada por el Dr. Miguel de Zayas como exitosa.

Los cuidados de este insigne enfermero impidieron que se dieran casos de gangrena hospitalaria; sin embargo, más de una vez tuvo que recurrir a las amputaciones en casos que llegaron a sus manos cuando no quedaba otra solución, pero en definitiva sobrevivían.

Lepra, mal de sueño, paludismo, tifus, difteria, hidrofobia, viruela, disentería, tisis, tétanos, fiebre amarilla, la hambruna, entre otras, fueron sus compañeras jornadas enteras, casi sin tiempo para el reposo, en vigilia permanente al lado de los enfermos, sin averiguar si eran cubanos o españoles, esclavos o libertos.

Siempre encontró un momento para enseñar a leer, escribir y contar a los niños pobres de la barriada.

Al fallecer el 7 de marzo de 1889, Olallo, quien ya había trascendido como el Padre de los pobres, sin ser sacerdote, inspiró en la prensa local expresiones como: "El Camagüey está de luto. Un pesar inmenso lo apena. Todo el que tenga corazón de hombre, y sepa lo que significa esta palabra: gratitud, ha llorado".

De padres desconocidos, José Olallo Valdés nació el 12 de febrero de 1820 en La Habana. Un mes después fue depositado en la Casa-Cuna de San José de la Habana, donde el 15 de marzo del mismo año fue bautizado.

Su voluntad de servir a los enfermos y marginados lo llevó a entrar en la Orden de los Hermanos San Juan de Dios. En 1835, con 15 años, fue destinado al Hospital de San Juan de Dios de Puerto Príncipe (hoy Camagüey), para completar su formación religiosa y profesional.

Allí afrontó valerosamente muchas de las grandes epidemias que azotaron la ciudad en su tiempo, la última de las cuales fue la viruela que diezmó a Puerto Príncipe a fines de 1888. Como tenía una sólida formación en medicina, pudo en más de una ocasión, hacer de cirujano y farmacéutico.

El 12 de mayo de 1873, al llegar el cadáver del Mayor General Ignacio Agramonte a la Plaza situada frente al hospital, el P. Olallo desafiando a los soldados españoles lo recogió del suelo, solicitó conducirlo en camilla y lavó los restos mortales del insigne patriota.

Fray Olallo falleció el 7 de marzo de 1889, en su humilde celda del hospital, después de estar algún tiempo enfermo y casi sin fuerzas, pero sin haber abandonado sus labores.

En 1901, el Ayuntamiento de la ciudad dispuso que a la Calle de los Pobres y a la Plaza de San Juan de Dios se les cambiaran sus respectivos nombres por el de padre Olallo. En la actualidad lleva su nombre la mencionada calle.

El 27 de noviembre del año 1999, la Orden Hospitalaria de los Hermanos de San Juan de Dios fundó en la ciudad de Camagüey, el Hogar para Ancianos Padre Olallo.

El 8 de marzo del año 2004 se trasladaron sus restos desde el Cementerio General de la provincia de Camagüey, hacia la iglesia de San Juan de Dios, donde laboró durante 54 años en el siglo XIX.

CAMAGUEY, Cuba, Nov 29 (acn) Cuban President Raul Castro Ruz today attended the beatification here of Friar Juanino Jose Olallo, the first ceremony of its kind that takes place in Cuba.

The mass was held at the Plaza de la Libertad square, across from the Iglesia de La Caridad Church and was also attended by Vice President Esteban Lazo and other government and Communist Party officials in this eastern city.

Priest Felix Lizaso, brother with the Hospitable Order of San Juan de Dios presented a brief history of the life and work of Friar Olallo. Following the unveiling of a huge image of Olallo, his remains were taken in procession to the altar.

On May 12, 1873, friar Olallo defied the Spanish soldiers as he took the dead body of Independence fighter, Mayor General Ignacio Agramonte into the hospital to be washed.

The remains of Friar Olallo were transferred, March 8 2004, from the General Cemetery to the San Juan de Dios Church, where he worked during 54 years in the 19th century.

CAMAGUEY, Cuba (AP) - Thousands of Roman Catholic faithful and even President Raul Castro gathered Saturday for the beatification of a monk known as the "father of the poor" the first ceremony of its kind on Cuban soil.

The act brings Friar Jose Olallo Valdes, a member of the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God, one step closer to sainthood.

Olallo was born in 1820 and abandoned at a Havana orphanage. He came to the central city of Camaguey to take his religious vows at 15 and stayed the rest of his life, earning his nickname by caring for the needy and chronically ill. He died in 1889 at age 69.

Beatification declares a departed person's ability to intercede on the part of the faithful who pray to him and is the last step to possible sainthood. Olallo is credited with a miracle in 1999, when a 3-year-old girl with an abdominal tumor made an unlikely recovery after her family prayed to him for help.

Authorities erected a large, open-air cathedral in Camaguey's Plaza de la Caridad and Cuba's 77-year-old president made a previously unannounced appearance, wearing a gray suit and taking a seat in the front row.

"In the face of a materialist culture that we see imposing itself everywhere and that pushes aside the weak and the poor, we learn from Olallo the virtues of the wisdom of God and how to love thy neighbor universally," said Jose Saraiva, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Vatican's saint-making office, who traveled to Cuba from Rome for the ceremony.

To commemorate the occasion, officials released a collection of doves and rang church bells. There was also a 2-kilometer (1-mile) pilgrimage.

The Cuban Roman Catholic Church started the process of beatifying Olallo in 1989, the 100th anniversary of his death. His is the first beatification in Cuba, but he is not the first Cuban to be beatified.

Cuban-born, Augustinian deacon Jose Lopez Piteira was beatified in Rome last year. He did most of his work in Spain, where he was shot in 1936 during the civil war.

Pope Benedict XVI released a statement saying he hoped Olvallo's beatification will "give renewed apostolic vitality" to religious Cubans.

"We give thanks to the pope who, in Rome, watches us from a window in his heart," Camaguey Archbishop Juan Garcia said Saturday.

The beatification and Raul Castro's attendance could help further improve the once icy relationship between the church and Cuba's communist government. The ceremony was widely announced in state-controlled news media, unusual in a country where official news outlets often ignore religious matters.

The single-party, communist government never outlawed religion, but expelled priests and closed religious schools when Fidel Castro took power in January 1959.

Tensions eased in the early 1990s when the government removed references to atheism in the constitution and let believers of all faiths join the Communist Party. They warmed more when Pope John Paul II visited in 1998.

Raul Castro's first diplomatic meeting as head of state was with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the pope's secretary of state whose previously scheduled visit to the island coincided with Fidel's transferal of power.