In the midst of deterioration and neglect, Cuban priest Kenny Fernández Delgado has transformed the Santa María del Mar Chapel, located on the eastern beaches of Havana, into a symbol of spiritual resistance and heritage reclamation. The temple, which remained closed for approximately 26 years, once again hosts religious celebrations thanks to the initiative of this priest from the Archdiocese of Havana.
On September 5, 2026, Father Kenny presided over the first mass in that space in more than two decades. The celebration was dedicated to the church's patroness, Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre. "For the first time in many years (perhaps about 26 years), mass was celebrated at the Church of Santa María del Mar this September 5," the priest wrote on his social media, accompanying the post with a quote from the Gospel of Matthew: "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
The images shared by Father Kenny show the severe deterioration of the temple: walls with damp spots and peeling plaster, cracks, graffiti, and columns with exposed steel rebar. Inside, the worshippers sit on makeshift benches made of bricks and concrete pieces, facing an elevated platform at the back of the chapel
Despite the conditions, the community has been growing. Children, young people, adults, and seniors have gradually gathered around these celebrations. The priest has also organized evangelizing missions in the area of Santa María del Mar, on the hill, aiming to strengthen an emerging community in a region where, in his own words, "the Catholic Church was almost absent."
On November 1st, All Saints' Day, Father Kenny celebrated a new mass in the temple. "We continue to pray for the restoration of this church and its community," he wrote after the celebration.
The recovery effort is named Proyecto Dirube, in honor of the Cuban artist Rolando López Dirube (Havana, 1928 – Puerto Rico, 1997), who designed the abstract murals that adorn the interior of the temple during the 1950s. Introducing abstract art into a Catholic space was considered a historical boldness for its time. López Dirube, a painter, sculptor, printmaker, and teacher, conceived more than 70 murals and sculptures for Havana before leaving Cuba in 1960 and settling in Puerto Rico. Those murals are now at serious risk of being permanently lost if the deterioration continues.
Father Kenny is one of the Cuban priests with the highest public visibility due to his critical stance against the regime. He symbolically participated in the call for the Civic March for Change on November 15, 2021, walking seven kilometers in Mayabeque. Throughout 2022, he was harassed, summoned, and interrogated by the political police, and the church in Madruga where he served was vandalized.
He also visited the family of Walnier Luis Aguilar, a young man sentenced to 23 years in prison for participating in the protests of July 11, 2021, and in August 2024, he called for days of prayer in public parks for Cuba and Venezuela.
The main challenge of the Dirube Project remains citizen mobilization and the search for resources amid the severe crisis the island is facing, to prevent this piece of Cuban history—both spiritual and artistic—from ultimately collapsing.
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