The Agrupación Católica Universitaria (ACU - Catholic University Group) is a prominent Christian life community (CVX-CLC) composed of professional
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
men. It is based in
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
,
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
.
Background
The group officially began in
Havana, Cuba
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. It was founded by Felipe Rey de Castro, a Spaniard Jesuit and professor in the prestigious "Palace of Education"
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School ( Spanish: ''Colegio Preparatorio Jesuita Belén'') is a private, Catholic, all-male, preparatory school run by the Antilles Province of the Society of Jesus in Tamiami, Page 1anPage 2/ref> unincorporated Mi ...
founded by Queen Isabela II of Spain. The ACU has therefore maintained close ties with both the
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...
and Belen Jesuit from its inception with many alumni and instructors serving as members.
Following the rise of the Castro regime with the
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...
and its anti-religion policies, the organization relocated to the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
in the 1960s where it began in Miami and has since spread to other cities.
The ACU has been mentioned in several books, including ''Presencia en Cuba del catolicismo apuntes históricos del siglo veinte'' (1998) and ''¡Presente!: U.S. Latino Catholics from Colonial Origins to the Present'' (2015) and the subject of the 2020 book ''History of the Agrupacion Catolica Universitaria.''
Leadership
ACU's first two directors were
Spaniard
Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking Ethnicity, ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern Nation state, nation-state of Spain. Genetics, Genetically and Ethnolinguisti ...
Jesuits residing in
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
. The organization's founder, Fr. Rey de Castro, led the ACU from the 1920s until his death in 1952. He was followed as director by Fr. Armando Llorente, S.J., who led the ACU for nearly sixty years. Llorente became a high-profile figure in the broader Cuban Catholic community and oversaw the group's migration from Cuba to the United States, leading it in Miami through the later half of the 20th century and the start of the 21st century until his death in 2010. He was also noted for having taught
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...
in Belen Jesuit. In a 2015 visit to the island,
Pope Francis
Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...
gifted Castro a book on Llorente.
Though not a director, another important ACU leader during the lead-up of the Cuban Revolution was the prominent Cuban psychiatrist Rene de la Huerta, who continued to be an active figure and writer for the group following their relocation to the United States.
In 2010 Fr. Armando Llorente, S.J., was followed by Belen Jesuit President Fr. Guillermo García-Tuñón, S.J., until its current director, Fr. Christian Saenz, S.J. (another Belen Jesuit alumnus), assumed the role in 2019. García-Tuñón is now serving as Assistant Ecclesiastical Director and Erik Viera is their Pastoral Administrator.
Members
Members of the Agrupación Católica Universitaria are known as "Agrupados" or "Congregantes." ACU membership is largely composed of educated Catholic South Florida leaders of various professions with the intent of facilitating Christian service in service their communtiees. Their affiliate site through Belen Jesuit states that the ACU's goals for their members are "to fulfill man's purpose in life through individual perfection, conceived as apostolic action executed within one's own intellectual means, in order to occupy an influential position of true spiritual leadership. Such leadership is sought to influence decisions made in society, so that society may be brought into accordance with the path that will lead it to God." ACU members include prominent and leading doctors, philosophers, bankers, attorneys, architects, artists, and engineers.
It is a Marian Congregation (CM) rooted in and guided by Jesuit principals and practices, such as the
Spiritual Exercises
The ''Spiritual Exercises'' (), composed 1522–1524, are a set of Christian meditations, contemplations, and prayers written by Ignatius of Loyola, a 16th-century Spanish Catholic priest, theologian, and founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesui ...
of
Saint Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basques, Basque Spaniard Priesthood in the Catholic Church, Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six compa ...
. Their philosophy calls for the balance and development of "spiritual life, professional life, and apostolic life" and their official motto is "Esto Vir" ("To be courageous/To be a man").
Though largely based in Miami, there are also ACU Houses in
Washington D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
,
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, and
Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...