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IN THIS ISSUE
From the Desk of
Fr. John Madigan, O.M.I.
Oblate Profile
Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Annual Healing Novena
Oblate Martyrs:
Making the Ultimate Sacrifice
Peter Pan is a story about a boy who didn’t want to grow up. When Fr. Alejandro Roque, O.M.I., was a boy, however, he had to grow up in a big hurry.
Alejandro grew up amid the turmoil of his native Cuba. Fidel Castro had come to power and was oppressing anyone in Cuban society whom he considered an enemy. Alejandro’s family had originally been from Spain. They were familiar with the horrific crimes committed by the Communists against Catholics during the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s, making them enemies of “the revolution.”
Fear began to spread on the island that Castro was abducting children and sending them to the Soviet Union to be brainwashed with Communist doctrine, as had happened in Spain during the Civil War. So Alejandro’s parents made the heartbreaking decision to smuggle their young son out of Cuba.
A secret airlift, known as “Operation Peter Pan,” was taking place in Cuba to sneak children out of the country. Alejandro, along with his 12-year-old brother, were put on a plane and sent to Miami, Florida. The boys ended up getting separated in the chaos. Alejandro was just nine years old, all alone in a foreign country.
“At first I lived in a type of refugee camp for kids,” said Fr. Alejandro. “Eventually I was able to be reunited with some of my relatives in Miami.”
It took five years for Fr. Alejandro’s parents to get out of Cuba. Finally, the family was reunited.
As he grew up in his adopted hometown of Miami,
Fr. Alejandro developed great respect for the Catholic
Church. Many of the people who helped him escape
from Cuba through “Operation Peter Pan” were faithful
lay people, along with members of Catholic religious orders that had once worked in Cuba and the Archdiocese of Miami.
When Fr. Alejandro read a book about Dr. Tom Dooley, the
legendary lay 
missionary who had partnered with the Oblates in
southeast Asia, he knew he wanted to be a Missionary Oblate of Mary
Immaculate, even though he had never met one. When the Oblates
took over his parish in Miami, his calling was cemented.
As an Oblate Priest Fr. Alejandro has spent most of his ministry in parish work in Florida. He also spent three years as a Vocation Director helping young men discern whether they were being called to religious life.
The only Oblate ever
born in Cuba, Fr. Alejandro
was also the first Oblate to
minister in Cuba. In 1995
he spent ten weeks working
with refugees at Guantanamo
Bay. He provided for the
physical and spiritual needs of
the displaced, and inspired
them with the story of his
own flight from Cuba.
Today Fr. Alejandro is pastor of St. Stephen’s
Parish in suburban Miami. In addition to his
pastoral ministry, he is also very active in a variety of
social justice causes. He is a leader with Broward
(County) Organized Leaders Doing Justice, or
BOLD Justice, a multi-denominational group that
is committed to researching social concerns,
devising solutions, and taking its findings to
governments for change. The group addresses
a wide range of issues ranging from improving
dental health for the poor to creating more
affordable rental units in the community.
