The Prior General of the Order of Augustinian Recollects, Miguel Miró, announced last August 19 the opening of a new missionary ministry, of an interprovincial nature and managed as a house of the General Curia of the Order, with residence in the city of Antilla and service extended to that city and those of Báguano and Tacajó. All of them are located in the province and diocese of Holguin in Cuba.
The prior general sent to all the communities this communication encouraging to the religious and remembering that the process of revitalization of the Order “can not remain in theoretical approaches, in the simple union of provinces and continue doing things as if nothing new could be born and grow” and from there, this new mission of evangelization.
The Augustinian Recollects in Cuba
Bearing in mind that in the Life and Mission Project the Prior General and his Council are entrusted with studying the possibility of participating as an Order in an inter-congregational missionary project, the General Council has accepted the proposal of Mons. Emilio Aranguren, bishop of HolguÃn, Cuba, to found a community in his diocese and to collaborate with other religious congregations in the difficult task of evangelizing in an adverse social environment.
This community would be formed by four religious willing to live in poverty and work together in an environment marked by the scarcity of means. The community should be aware of the need for prayer and fraternal life to confront the material, social and spiritual difficulties that occur in a materialistic environment and religious indifference.
Diocese of Holguin
The municipality of Antilla has 101 square kilometers and just over 12,000 inhabitants. It is one of the smallest municipalities of Cuba, of relatively recent foundation (1925) and famous for its natural beauty. It is a narrow coastal strip that occupies the Peninsula El Ramón. It has three Popular Councils, one with urban characteristics and two mixed with 35 constituencies.
The largest economic activity is linked to its gigantic bay, which offers navigation facilities for the largest vessels. It has a solid port superstructure, department stores and warehouses, grain mills and rail transport.
Its economy is also linked to livestock, fisheries and agriculture. There was a gold mine. Due to its natural beauties and the current juncture there is great potential for tourism development, as well as hotel construction plans and other service facilities.
Catholicism is the majority among those who profess a religion, although there are also Methodist and Baptist Christians, Adventist and Pentecostal neopentecostals, as well as Jehovah’s Witnesses and Yoruba.
The municipality of Báguanos has two large urban centers, the one of Báguanos (a little more than 15,000 inhabitants) and the one of Tacajó (more than 35,000). In their lands there have been important battles since the colonial period (1869, 1895, 1898, 1952 …). The sugar industry had an important development and it is in this city where the first communist party emerged and, when General Machado fell, Soviets were formed. Although at the beginning of the current political period the city received important benefits from the state, with great investment in areas such as education or health, some today qualify as the forgotten municipality of the Revolution, with a significant deterioration of public services and places of extreme poverty, such as San Juan de las Puercas.
The Augustinian Recollect Missionaries in Cuba
The Missionaries Augustinian Recollects were the first congregation of the Augustinian Recollect Family that arrived in Cuba in 1991. Its community is located in Morón (Ciego de Avila), exactly 406 kilometers from Antilla, five and a half hours by private vehicle by the Circuito Norte road.
