There are two anecdotes, both symbolic, that marked the year of 1981 when the Holy See decided to promote Monsignor Jaime Ortega, bishop of Pinar del Rio, to Archbishop of Habana. On the same day, December 27, 1981, when he was supposed to take possession of the Cathedral, the headlines of the newspaper El Nuevo Herald read: “From forced work camps (in reference to the UMAP) to Archbishop of Habana”. At the same time, the government building that was to be occupied by the new Archbishop showed a sad picture, with locked rooms full of old debris and covered by dust. The colonial small palace offered a sad picture, of eternal and sad abandonment.