Joseph Vandor

In August 1936, Father Vandor was sent as a missionary to Cuba. He began his ministry in Guanabacoa as a chaplain and school counselor. In 1940, he became rector of the Moca agricultural school in the Dominican Republic, but returned to Cuba after the institution was seized by the government of Rafael Trujillo. He was novice master in Matanzas from 1943 to 1946, obtained Cuban nationality in 1945 under the name José Vandor Puchner, and then administered the College of Arts and Trades of Camagüey from 1946 to 1954. On December 9, 1954, he settled in Santa Clara, where he built the Salesian house, restored the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and directed the 'Rosa Pérez Velasco' School of Arts and Trades until its nationalization by the Fidel Castro regime in 1961. He then became the first pastor of the Carmel parish in 1965.

Father Vandor distinguished himself by his charity and gentleness. During the Cuban Revolution, at the time of the Battle of Santa Clara in December 1958, he courageously offered himself as a peace mediator between the rebel troops of Che Guevara and the government forces of Colonel Cornelio Rojas. His mediation allowed for the evacuation of civilians and the care of the wounded. From the 1960s onwards, despite the growing opposition of the communist regime, he tirelessly continued his ministry to the faithful, the sick, and as a sought-after confessor.

Afflicted by serious pathologies (tuberculosis, stroke, hepatitis, osteoarthritis) and confined to a wheelchair from 1976, he endured his sufferings with patience. He died on October 8, 1979, in Santa Clara. His cause for beatification opened on October 8, 2003, under John Paul II. After the validation of the diocesan inquiry in 2011 and the favorable opinion of the Positio in 2016, Pope Francis authorized on January 20, 2017, the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic nature of his virtues, declaring him venerable.

Marked by the charism of Saint John Bosco and the gentleness of Saint Francis de Sales, his spirituality rests on the Eucharist and devotion to Mary Help of Christians and Our Lady of Mount Carmel. His motto was: 'Si tú lo quieres Señor, yo también lo quiero' ('If you want it Lord, I want it too'). Described as a noble and delicate soul, he remains in Cuba a model of reconciliation and Christian education.