HASTA LUEGO

Me han dicho que marchas

y he visto nublarse el cielo,

por poco tiempo, me dicen,

Más.... cuán largo será ese tiempo.

Mis ojos acostumbrados a verte

vestido de blanco

coronada la frente

de la aureola que de los santos

se dicen poseen.

Hablándome siempre de Cristo

también me enseñaste a quererte.

Cabe si es posible decirte.

Que te despidas sonriente.

Ve con Dios....

que contigo también irán mis rezos

y por favor....  VUELVE

de no ser posible

recuérdate de aquellos que querrás

ver en el cielo.

   Nacido en Media, Pennsylvania, USA., a los 14 años entró en el seminario agustino de Villanova, profesando en 1923. Su ordenación sacerdotal tuvo lugar en Roma en 1930, donde obtuvo el doctorado de filosofía.

   Vuelto a su patria, después de unos años de enseñanza en el seminario, en 1935 partió como voluntario para Filipinas, y en 1939 a Cuba. Profesor del colegio San Agustín primero y poco después al frente de la parroquia del Santo Cristo en La Habana Vieja, se desvivió por resolver las necesidades de la gente humilde abriendo escuelas gratuitas para niños y obreros, un dispensario médico, introduciendo Acción Católica, la JOC y la Legión de María, promoviendo cultos litúrgicos, festejos religiosos, actividades culturales y deportivas.

   “La educación material y espiritual y la disciplina de esa escuela no tenían nada que envidiarle a la mejor escuela de la época”, asegura a través de un comunicado Aída Potestad, quien formó parte de la labor pastoral del padre McKniff.

 Siendo un sacerdote de comunidad los últimos 8 años que vivió en Cuba los vivió solo ya que fue el único sacerdote Agustino que quedo en la Isla. Por motivos ajenos a su voluntad el Padre Mckniff nunca más regresa a Cuba tras salir en el 1968 por motivos de salud.

   No Obstante su edad avanzada en el 1972 se ofreció para la misión de Chulucanas, un territorio semidesértico del norte de Perú, donde - fuera de un breve período de docencia en la ciudad de Trujillo - permaneció durante veintidós años. Incansable, promotor de vocaciones y servidor de menesterosos, de los laicos y de “su” Legión de María.

   Se distinguió por la piedad mariana, el amor a los necesitados y la eficiencia operativa. Obediente, alegre, deportivo, de espíritu juvenil y siempre disponible.

    El padre McKniff dedicó mucho tiempo a la pastoral de los enfermos y a la Legión de María, llegándosele a conocer como “el padre de la Legión de María”.

    Potestad expresó que McKniff consideraba a Cuba su segunda patria. “En ella había dejado la mitad de su corazón y siempre deseó regresar a su parroquia en La Habana, indica al explicar que con ese deseo murió en 1994 durante una de sus visitas a Miami “rodeado y cuidado por sus hermanos agustinos y sus antiguos feligreses”.

   El 28 de agosto de 2000 se abrió en Chulucanas su proceso de canonización.

Los frailes agustinos y sus estudiantes en el parque de Trujillo, Perú, que acaba de ser dedicado por el Gobierno Municipal a la memoria del Padre McKniff.

John J. McKniff, O.S.A.
Augustinian Missionary and Pastor of the Poor. Five years after his death at age 88, the cause has been opened for the canonization of an Augustinian missionary and apostle to the poor.

John J. McKniff, O.S.A. had served many years as a missionary in Peru, Cuba and the Philippines. A member of the Augustinian Villanova Province, he worked closely with Augustinians of the Midwest during his years in Peru. A petition to begin the process of beatification of John J. McKniff, O.S.A. was formally made in 1999.

The diocesan process, during which those who knew Father McKniff gave testimony, was solemnly closed in Chulucanas, Peru on the Feast of St. Augustine, August 28, 2002. All the documentation has been sent to the Congregation of Saints in Rome for further study and discernment. Fernando Rojo Martínez, O.S.A., the Augustinian Postulator of Causes, is working to ensure progress.

Born September 5, 1905 in Media, Pennsylvania, John McKniff entered the Augustinian Order and professed religious vows in 1924. He was ordained a priest in 1930.

Teaching in the Philippines
After teaching at Villanova College and at the Augustinian Seminary, Staten Island, New York, for four years, he volunteered to go to the Philippines. After three years of teaching there, an accident in the school chemistry lab in 1938 damaged his lungs. He developed pneumonia and was hospitalized for 80 days. Suspecting the beginnings of tuberculosis, doctors advised him to return to the United States, where the more moderate climate would aid his recovery.

Ministry in Cuba
The following year, 1939, he was sent to Cuba. After two years of teaching there, he was named pastor of Cristo del Buen Viaje Parish in the old part of Havana, a post that he held from 1941 to 1968.

He was an extraordinary pastor. Everybody knew Father McKniff, as he walked all the streets of the parish. He organized many Catholic Action groups, such as Young Catholic Workers and Legion of Mary, to evangelize and give Christian service to others. He promoted prayer gatherings in parishioners' homes. His preaching, example and leadership called people to a deep spirituality.

Father McKniff opened a free school where the poor children of the Havana parish were educated during the day and adults took courses at night. He inaugurated next to the church a medical and dental clinic which made quality health care available to all. He acquired shoes and food to distribute to the needy.

Father Mckniff stayed in Cuba for many years working tirelessly to support and nourish the Christian faith until 1968, this deprived him of the Augustinian community life that he loved so dearly, Giving his poor health, parishioners and friends persuaded him to travel to the United States for a vacation--his first in eight years. Due to certain circumstances beyond his control and against his will, father Mckniff never return to his parish in Havana, Cuba. He left half  his heart in the old Havana Santo Cristo del Buen Viaje parish.  

Missionary to Northern Peru

Ministry in New York parishes filled the next three years. But the missionary call remained strong in Father McKniff. In 1972 he went to northern Peru.

There he continued to bring the Word of God to the poor. He involved the people in the work of evangelization and service, organizing groups of Augustinian Seculars and Legionnaires of Mary. He helped implement the pastoral plan of the Chulucanas Diocese, called New Image of Parish, which involves large numbers of the faithful in working for Jesus and the Church.

Father McKniff continued to share his deep spirituality with others. He would walk many hours to pray with the people of remote Peruvian villages.

By the end of 1993, weakened by a bout with typhoid fever, Father McKniff began to be afflicted by arthritis. He started to suffer a growing intolerance for the heat of the Peruvian desert. A problem with equilibrium made an assignment to the cooler climate of the Andes mountains with their rough walking trails and roads too dangerous. Father McKniff reluctantly left Peru for the United States.

In late February, 1994, while traveling back to Peru, he stopped to visit the Augustinian community in Miami, Florida. There he collapsed. He was taken to a hospital, where he died March 24, 1994.

John McKniff is remembered for his missionary zeal, his care for the poor and his intimate relationship with God. Those who knew him best--his fellow Augustinians and the people to whom he ministered in northern Peru--recognized that he was specially gifted by God. They petitioned that his cause for canonization be opened, so that he might eventually be recognized as a hero and model for all of God's People.

Estas son fotos del Libro que el Padre Kelly escribió sobre la biografía de su gran amigo Fr. John J. Mckniff,

Si desea obtener una copia de este maravilloso libro por favor escribanos a: informacion@iglesiadelsantocristo.org