Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino

Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino (born 18 October 1936 in Jagüey Grande, Matanzas, Cuba) is the Archbishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Havana and a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the second Cuban elevated to Cardinal. He later stepped down from his see on April 26, 2016.

He studied for priesthood at the Seminary of San Alberto Magno in Matanzas and in the Seminary of the Fathers of Foreign Missions in Quebec, Canada. He was ordained a priest on 2 August 1964 by Bishop Jose Maximino Dominguez-Rodriguez of Matanzas. He was assigned to various parishes in the Diocese of Matanzas from 1964 to 1966. He was imprisoned by the Communist government from 1966 to 1967. From 1967-1969, pastor of Jagüey Grande, his native city; as all the pastors in Cuba, due to a severe shortage of priests in those years, he served in several parishes and churches at the same time. Pastor of the cathedral of Matanzas, and at the same time, assisted the parish of Pueblo Nuevo and two other churches in the countryside; he was also president of the Diocesan Commission of Catechetic and realized an active apostolate with the youth of the diocese; in those years, which were even more difficult for the pastoral work of the church, he began a youth movement that included, among other forms of apostolate, a summer camp for the youth, and a work of evangelization through theatrical works performed by the same youth. At the same time, he was professor at San Carlos y San Ambrosio Interdiocesan Seminary, Havana, where he traveled every week to teach moral theology for several years.

On 4 December 1978, Pope John Paul II named him Bishop of the Diocese of Pinar del Rio. He was consecrated bishop on 14 January 1979 by Mons. Mario Tagliaferri, Titular Archbishop of Formia, Pro-Nuncio in Cuba and assisted by Mons. Francisco Oves-Fernandez, Archbishop of Havana and Mons. Domínguez-Rodríguez, Bishop of Matanzas. His episcopal motto is Sufficit tibi gratia mea. He was later promoted to Archbishop of Havana in 1981. He was proclaimed Cardinal-Priest of Santi Aquila e Priscilla on 26 November 1994. He served as president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba from 1988 to 1999. In 1996, he presided the commission for the process of postulation of the cause of beatification of the Servant of God Fr. Félix Varela y Morales. Cardinal Ortega y Alamino was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI.

He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2013 papal conclave that selected Pope Francis.

On 15 June 2013, Pope Francis named Cardinal Ortega y Alamino as his Special Envoy to the closing ceremony of the National Eucharistic Congress in El Salvador, scheduled for 11 August 2013. On April 26, 2016, it was announced by the Vatican that Ortega would resign from his position and that the new archbishop of Havana would be Camaguey archbishop Juan de la Caridad Garcia Rodriguez.

In 2004, the Humanitarian Institution of Merit in Barcelona, Spain awarded him with the "Gran Cruz al Mérito Humanitario." He has been given an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Saint Thomas, Fordham University, Barry University, University of San Francisco, Providence College, Boston College, St. John's University, Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla, and Creighton University.

Ortega y Alamino has been critical of both capitalism and communism. Like John Paul II, he has urged his nation not to construct a post-communist future on the basis of hyper-capitalist principles. In 1998, he warned of the insidious influence in Cuba of a "species of American subculture that invades everything: It is a fashion, a conception of life." In September 1993 the Cuban Conference of Catholic Bishops, headed by Cardenal Ortega, published the message "El amor todo lo espera" (Love endures all things), extremely critical of the Cuban Communist government and asking for a new direction of the country. In April 2010 he said that Cuba was in crisis.

On 20 May 2010, Dionisio García Ibáñez (es), Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba, and Cardinal Ortega met with Cuban President Raúl Castro to discuss issues concerning jailed political dissidents. Ortega said that there "will be a process and this process has to start with small steps and these steps will be made." The high-level meeting followed by a press conferences was unusual. Cardinal Ortega will meet with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on 14 August 2015, prior to Kerry's visit with the Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodriguez; after visiting with

During negotiations to renew diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba, Cardinal Ortego, without public announcement, visited the White House and hand-delivered a letter from Pope Francis to President Obama.