Monsignor Emilio Vallina Dies: Catholic Leader Who Defended Cuban Migrants In Exile Dead At 87

Miami Catholic leader Monsignor Emilio Vallina died Saturday at the age of 87. Vallina was the founder of St. John Bosco Parish in Little Havana in Miami, Fla., in the early 1960s. He served as the pastor there for over 40 years and dedicated his ministry to Cuban exiles in the area by providing them with both spiritual and material help as they struggled to establish themselves in a new country. According to the Associated Press, Vallina's church became known as the "exile's cathedral." Father of the Gesù Chruch that gathered the first Cuban Catholics said of the late leader: "Monsignor Vallina was the heart that encouraged the Cuban Communiy ..." via el Nuevo Herald, the Spanish-language sister paper to The Miami Herald. Florida Catholic reported that Vallina had Bible passage in mind when he commissioned the mural for the inside of the chruch dome: "Come to me all you who are tired and weary for I will give you rest."

Vallina was born on April 10, 1926 in a Cuba town in the province of Pinar del Rio called Guanajay, reports Miami CBS Local in a news report. Cardinal Arteaga ordained him as priest for the Archdiocese of Havana on April 20, 1952. He served in parishes in Cuba for several years before being expelled from the country during the Fidel Castro revolution. He arrived in Miami on July 8, 1961. In 1963, Vallina was given the task to take over a new parish in an area where exiles from Cuba were settling that would later become Miami's "Little Havana." The church he founded for Cuban exiles and other refugees from different countries in Central and South America was originally located in a movie theater and then an old car dealership that he transformed into the present-day church.

The Catholic leader worked to help undocumented immigrants find homes, jobs, food and transportation. Vallina opened a free clinic for poor Cuban exiles and an after-school program for children with working parents. He also established a bank of credit for immigrants and refugees and taught them entrepreneurial skills so that they could make a new life in a new country. In the mid 1980s, Vallina launched a huge fundraising campaign to renovate the old car dealership into the church it is today. The structure resembles many of churches in Latin American with its many images of various Hispanic peoples. It is said that he celebrated mass daily until a few days before his death. Archbishop Thomas Wenski said in a homily on Sunday that parishioners should celebrate the legacy Vallina left behind and the impact he had on their lives.