In the mid-1960s Monsignor Joseph E. Leppert welcomed new Cuban immigrants coming to Memphis to our beautiful and historic St. Theresa The Little Flower Catholic Church, 1644 Jackson, Ave., Memphis.
Our Lady of Charity Statue
These fellow-Catholics had left everything behind in their native land, in search of the freedoms lost to the newly established Communist regime. In gratitude for his hospitality and their new spiritual home, they gifted St. Theresa Parish a small statue of Our Lady of Charity (known as “La Caridad del Cobre”)—this wonderful small statue is still part of the devotional treasures of the Parish.
Our First Cuban Priest
Decades after those first Cuban immigrants made a home at our St. Theresa Parish, Catholic Charities of West Tennessee was still helping several Cuban families, political refugees, settle in Memphis. Among these families, one young immigrant would eventually become the first Cuban Priest of our Diocese, Father Yoelvis A. Gonzalez.
Our Pastor of St. Theresa
In 2020, Father Gonzalez was installed as the 11th Pastor of St. Theresa The Little Flower Church. The hospitality of Monsignor Leppert and St. Theresa Parish, and the devotion of those early immigrant families had in the Providence of God, borne fruit in a beautiful way. Today, our St. Theresa The Little Flower Church is happy to announce the visit of Cuban Missionaries to the Parish this weekend, March 14-15.
Community of St. Martin
For the last 20 years, the Community of St. Martin (a French Clerical Society of Apostolic Life) has been ministering to the spiritual and material needs of the Cuban people. Their mission unfolds in the heart of the island, in the Diocese of Santa Clara and the Diocese of Cienfuegos. In this deeply tested country, they serve a Catholic Church that suffers yet keeps the flame of hope alive.
Serving and Supporting
Every day, Priests, Religious Sisters, Volunteers, and the Faithful dedicate themselves to serving young people and the most vulnerable, drawing on the strength of their Catholic faith and the modesty of their means. Supported by the richness of parish life, their projects are many: soup kitchens, pharmacy, daycare centers, and much more.