The Founder: Fr. Felipe Rey de Castro S.J.
A Spaniard from the Province of Galicia, Fr. Rey arrived in Cuba in 1925. After his arrival, Fr. Rey came to the "Escuela de Belén" (a Catholic school founded and run by the Jesuits) to be "Headmaster of the Upper Class", and eventually evolved to be Director of the school. In the summer of 1927, he was called back to Spain, and returned to Cuba on March 3, 1931 to found The Agrupación Católica Universitaria (ACU). Fr. Rey first got the idea of establishing the ACU by noticing that many of the students that graduated from Belen would be exposed to a liberal university environment and subsequently lose their faith. This was no trivial issue when one considers that Belen was a very elite school that produced some of Cuba's finest professionals. As a way for the graduating students to be involved and take an active approach in cultivating their Catholic faith, Fr. Rey instituted the ACU with the idea of developing formed, professional Catholic men that would hold a position of merit in society, and through his position, would exert a Catholic influence to society. After many fruitful years of seeing the ACU grow in members and in fraternal devotion, Fr. Rey was called to eternal life and passed away of natural causes in his dormitory room on February 12, 1952.
Current Director: Fr. Amando Llorente S.J.
Born in Mansilla Mayor in the Province of Leon, Spain, Fr. Amando Llorente S.J. was one of nine children, one of which was his older brother: Fr. Segundo Llorente S.J., a Jesuit missionary in Alaska. Father Amando Llorente arrived at the Colegio de Belén in Havana, Cuba in 1942 as part of his training to become a Jesuit priest. After a couple of years, he returned to Europe to complete his studies. On September 1948, he was ordained to the Priesthood in Heythrope College, Oxford, Great Britain. He returned to Cuba in 1951 to take on the role of Director of the "El Calvario" Retreat House. After the passing away of our founder, Fr. Felipe Rey de Castro S.J., Fr. Llorente was then called to assume the position of Director of the ACU on March 2, 1952, a position he still holds today.