Luis Gutiérrez Areces, the man who clandestinely brought the image of the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre to Miami hidden in a suitcase in 1961, passed away this Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. in that city at the age of 89, reported the Shrine of Charity on Facebook.
With his death, one of the key figures of an episode that marked the history of the Cuban exile disappears, transforming the patroness of Cuba into a symbol of hope for thousands of compatriots who left the Island following the triumph of the Revolution.
In a statement, the Ermita described him as an "essential figure in the history of the National Sanctuary of Our Lady of Charity" and assured that his name "will forever remain connected to the history of the Ermita and the grateful hearts of the Cuban exile."
The Virgin arrived in a suitcase
Born in 1936, Gutiérrez Areces played a key role in one of the most memorable moments in the history of exile when, on September 8, 1961, he arrived in Miami with a carefully protected replica of the Virgen de la Caridad in his luggage.
The image arrived just in time for the first celebration of the feast day of Cuba's patron saint on U.S. soil, amidst the growing wave of exiles fleeing Fidel Castro's regime.
That relocation occurred in a context of intense persecution against the Catholic Church. That same year, the regime expelled over 130 priests and religious members, restricted worship activities, and suppressed public expressions of faith, including a Marian procession that ended with the death of a young Catholic.
A discreet operation
The image brought by Gutiérrez Areces was a replica of the original Virgin of Cobre, commissioned in 1947 by Monsignor Armando Jiménez Rebollar for the parish of Guanabo, in Havana.
The operation was organized by Elvira Jované de Zayas, then Chargé d'Affaires of the Panamanian Embassy in Cuba, who personally delivered the statue to the exile at the bottom of the airplane stairs along with the wooden rays and other elements that completed the sculpture.
According to the diplomat herself, the first "miracle" of that image was obtaining the necessary safe conducts just two days before the trip.
The Virgin arrived in Miami just in time for a mass attended by more than 30,000 Cubans, held at the Miami Stadium and presided over by Archbishop Coleman F. Carroll.
Since then, that image became the main religious symbol of the Cuban exile.
Today is the one celebrated at the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity, a sanctuary built between 1967 and 1973 facing Biscayne Bay, and declared a National Shrine by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in the year 2000.
A life tied to the Hermitage
For more than six decades, Gutiérrez Areces maintained a close connection with the Ermita and participated every September 8th in the celebrations dedicated to the Virgin of Charity.
In 2021, it was also present at the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the image's arrival in Miami, a ceremony that brought the Cuban community together once again around the national patroness.
La Ermita remembered him as a "living witness to a history of faith, hope, and love for Cuba" and concluded its message with a farewell prayer:
"May the Virgin of Charity, whom you served and loved with such faithfulness throughout your life, welcome you under her maternal mantle and guide you to the definitive encounter with her Son, Jesus Christ."
With the death of Luis Gutiérrez Areces, one of the last direct witnesses of an episode that marked the birth of one of the main spiritual symbols of the Cuban exile disappears, a symbol that continues to inspire devotion among generations of Cubans both on the Island and abroad.
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