Premiere at the Rialto, Santiago de Cuba

Saturday 20 August 2022, at 5 p.m. sharp at the entrance of the “Rialto” projection hall in Santiago de Cuba, a large group of people, especially young people, were joyfully entering to enjoy the documentary: “One FAMILY, one HEART”, about the life and work of the Venerable María Antonia París y Riera, foundress with Saint Anthony Mary Claret, of the Religious of Mary Immaculate Claretian Missionary Sisters.

On 26 May this year it was 170 years since the arrival of Antonia París and her companions in this city. To mark the occasion, various activities are being organised this year, not only to remember the event, but also to learn from it.

The documentary begins with the profound experience of God that she had in 1842, while she was in the Company of Mary in Tarragona, where she experienced God’s call to found a new Order. It also takes into account the intervention of Claret in the intricate paths of the Foundation.

In the premiere we were accompanied by many friends and companions with whom we shared in Santiago the evangelising Mission; the Claretian team of the parish of Trinidad; Monsignor Dionisio García Ibáñez, Archbishop of the Diocese; the members of the Claretian Lay Family, and we highlight the presence of our provincial superior Vivian González and her Vicar Betty Morales, as well as Ondina Cortés, who had arrived from the USA and Mexico for the Celebration of the 170th Anniversary.

We congratulate the general director, Enrique Pérez Fumero and his production team. Everyone contributed to the quality of the play, but a very special round of applause and affection goes to the great actress Delia Leyva, for her excellent interpretation of María Antonia. We thank so many people whose support and affection have accompanied us in the process of this work and we ask the Lord that knowing a little more about the life and work of this brave woman may encourage us to continue and remain faithful to what God wants for each one of us… Because as the poet León Felipe said…

Claretian Missionary Sisters of Santiago de Cuba