We are a group of individuals and legal entities that are dedicated to finance and promote the educational work of the Catholic Church, which by inspiration of His Eminence Cardinal Jaime Ortega has been carried out in the Archbishopric of Havana and seeks to develop the education of young Cubans with training opportunities, professional experiences and degrees in humanities, inside and outside Cuba, with Christian inspiration and according to the international context, with respect for religious freedom and philosophical opinion. Although priority is given to young people, the proposal is not limited to them.

The institutions sponsored by the Foundation are referents for training in humanities, entrepreneurial skills, as well as cultural exchange and professional experiences from Havana, mainly for young people who feel the need. A training and human development ecosystem is developed to serve people, institutions and societies.

The CubaEmprende project has been in existence for 11 years. Since its foundation, its objective has been to foster the entrepreneurial spirit and support those who wish to start or improve their own business. On the one hand, there are those who, once they have graduated from its training workshops, remain linked to the project, interested in the advice it provides; on the other hand, there are the newcomers who arrive with the dream of becoming prosperous entrepreneurs. CubaEmprende welcomes and inspires all of them under the maxim that it is worth being a facilitator of the development of a person, but also of those who work with them, their families and the environment that surrounds them.

It is the realization of the initiative of the Archbishopric of Havana for the promotion of Cuban culture from its Christian matrix and in continuity with the educational work of the Catholic Church that has been carried out for centuries in this same building of the Old and Royal Seminary of San Carlos and San Ambrosio and that in the nineteenth century had as a teacher of Philosophy and Science Father Felix Varela, one of the founders of our Cuban nationality.

With the implementation in Cuba of “Self-Employment” and other non-state forms of production, Cubans, who are an enterprising and hard-working people, are applying their knowledge and great capacity for creation to satisfy the demands that arise in their environment in the form of services and consumer products. In this way, new entrepreneurial realities are opening up, developed by people who have taken this path in large numbers in recent years, which at the end of last December exceeded half a million industrial and commercial initiatives, 30% of which have been developed by young people and 34% by women.

Sacred Music is a substantial part of Christian culture and is one of its artistic manifestations that has been linked to the Liturgy since the early days of Christianity. It is for this reason that musical studies are a natural part of Humanistic studies, understood in a broad sense. Therefore, the Chair of Sacred Music is linked to the set of studies of the Father Felix Varela Institute of Ecclesiastical Studies.

He was born in Jagüey Grande, Matanzas Province, on October 18, 1936. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science and Letters in 1955 and, after a year of university studies, he entered the St. Albert the Great Diocesan Seminary, run by the Fathers of the Foreign Missions of Quebec, in 1956. After the first four years of studies in humanities and philosophy, he was sent by his bishop to the Foreign Missions Seminary in Montreal, Canada, where he studied theology.

On December 7, 1978, he was named Bishop of Pinar del Río by His Holiness Pope St. John Paul II. He was consecrated on January 14, 1979, in the Cathedral of Matanzas and on January 21 he took possession of the Diocese.

Here he found a diocese of great Catholic religiosity, with a very committed and participative laity, which he empowered. He also promoted the foundation of religious communities and the realization of diocesan meetings of what today we would call pastoral commissions. Due to the shortage of priests, he himself attended parishes and chapels in the countryside.

He was created a Cardinal by His Holiness Pope John Paul II in the Consistory of November 26, 1994. As part of this service to the Church, he is also Pastor of the community of Aquila and Priscilla in Rome. He was received as Cardinal in the S.M.I. Cathedral of Havana on December 11, 1994.

Currently, he is CEO of Somos Community Care, a medical organization based in New York City.
He is a permanent member of the Board of Directors of the Bible Society of America, where he previously served as president of Catholic Ministry.
He is a former Vice President of the Merrill Lynch financial organization.
Mr. Paredes graduated with a Master’s Degree in Philosophy from the Catholic University of Argentina, and obtained the same degree with a major in Religious Education from Loyola University Chicago, and did graduate studies at Georgetown University in Washington, DC and received a Doctorate in Letters and Humanities from the Catholic University of America.

Born in Madrid on 03-29-45. Currently Senior Adviser, Amadeus. Company of AMADEUS GLOBAL TRAVEL DISTRIBUTION in Spain and Portugal. Implementation of Amadeus IT Group SA in Cuba. Development and implementation of the Corporate Social Responsibility strategy.
1969: Bachelor of Science in Physics, Specialization in Electronics / Automatics. Faculty of Sciences, Physics Section. Systems Engineer. COMPLUTENSE UNIVERSITY, Madrid.
1996-2006: General Manager of Amadeus Spain – SAVIA Amadeus. AMADEUS GLOBAL TRAVEL DISTRIBUTION company in Spain and Portugal.
1995-96: Marketing Director. IBERIA LÍNEAS AÉREAS DE ESPAÑA, S.A.
1992-95: Director of Intercontinental Routes. IBERIA LÍNEAS AÉREAS DE ESPAÑA, S.A.
1991-92: Director of Coordination of the Management of Investee Companies of the Iberia Group (Aerolíneas Argentinas, Viasa, Ladeco, etc). IBERIA LÍNEAS AÉREAS DE ESPAÑA, S.A.

Born in 1945. Spanish nationality, resides in Madrid.Graduate in economic and political sciences from the University of Fribourg (Switzerland).Secretary General of UNIAPAC (International Christian Union of Businessmen and Executives), Brussels, from 1974 to 1981. Since then, he has been involved in the international development of the MAPFRE insurance group, where he served until 2008 as one of the group’s Vice-Presidents, responsible for finance and management control.Trustee of Fundación MAPFRE and director of subsidiaries of MAPFRE SA until the statutory age limit (2015).From 2009 to 2019, president of the Vatican Foundation Centesimus Annus pro Pontifice. Currently, external advisor and director of the seminars on socio-economic ethics of the Paul VI Foundation, Madrid.Member of the Board of Trustees of The Voluntary Solidarity Fund International and president of the VSF Spain branch.Married to Cecilia Foletti Moschini, grandfather of eleven grandchildren.

José Ramón Amor Pan (A Coruña 1966) holds a PhD in Moral Theology, a Diploma in Law and a Master’s Degree in Development Cooperation. He is currently the Academic Director of the Pablo VI Foundation and Dean of the Faculty of Political Science and Sociology at the Pontifical University of Salamanca. Member of the Ethics and Deontology Commission of the Official College of Physicians of A Coruña and of the Board of Directors of the Real Institución Benéfico Social Padre Rubinos.