	FEATURE STORY
	A Pot of Gold LaFe Exclusive: meet the man who shed the Lord’s light on the lives of many. En Español
Father Manente enjoying the rushing waters at Yellowstone Park on his way to Alaska.
Even in death, Blondie, an old mixed breed dog, remained loyal to her best friend and caretaker by lying in front of his casket inside San Francisco Xavier Church situated in a remote and forgotten area of Laredo. Perhaps no image better captures or personifies the influence that Fr. Vladimiro Manente had on into the lives of anyone and anything he interacted with through the course of his long-storied life. His prized animals, like the street-roaming Blondie, were always present at Mass with the Italian priest. “They were all his altar servers,” chuckles Leo Canales, an old friend of Fr. Manente. “The dogs were very religious. The dogs, the peacock, even a deer all came to Mass. They sat up there at the altar”. He loved them all because they were God’s creation. And so we begin the story of a man whose pet dogs like Blondie, Facina, Pee-Wee, Pirata, Kiara, Rina and Samson were almost as famous as their caretaker. One of his first assignments was as a priest in Eagles Nest, New México – an appropriate name considering his well-known love and appreciation of nature. His last assignment was as pastor of the mission located in a poverty-stricken, sometimes crime-ridden secluded barrio – aptly named el Rincon del Diablo. No matter where he served at the time, Fr. Manente was a humble man with a voracious appetite to make a positive difference in his community and throughout this country. Revered as the founder of the Cursillo Movement in the United States, Fr. Manente’s impact may be immeasurable considering the vast growth of the four-day retreat and the many participants whose lives have been changed as a result of this spiritual enlightenment. However, his friends agree that the lives of those he came into contact with remain changed forever. “He made you feel like he was your best friend,” recalls Fernando Montemayor along with the rest of the bandidos – as Fr. Manente referred to Montemayor and his cohorts Ruben Gonzalez and Leo Canales. “He made you feel special. He made you feel like you were his most beloved.” “We were blessed to have been part of his life,” interjects Gonzalez. Canales adds, “And he gave us much more than we could ever give him. I remember telling him one time that if he died before we did, que nos diera palanca, so that we could go to heaven. And he said, ‘Heaven wouldn’t be heaven without my friends.’ That’s the kind of man he was.” Other distinguishing Father Manente characteristics delved into his humility and his essence of being. “He’s probably blushing right now knowing that you’re writing a story about him. He was too humble a man for that,” Gonzalez says laughingly. Montemayor agrees adding, “His spirituality was very profound.” “Father would say you do not need miracles to believe. The greatest miracle is you. That you are created in God’s image, ”explains Canales. “And he would explain to us that part of that greatness was that we have intelligence. ‘Ser inteligente,’ Father would say that was the miracle.” Canales, Montemayor and Gonzalez proceeds to share a story that Fr. Manente had told them about his arrival in the United States. Margarita Elizondo, who was Fr. Manente’s assistant for nearly 25 years, also shares her version of the story. Only months after leaving the seminary, Fr. Manente departs Italy for America and after some brief assignments in New Orleans, Laredo, Palisades Park and Laredo again, he is assigned to a very rural church in Eagles Nest, New Mexico. It is the same Eagles Nest whose 36 degrees below zero and 45 degrees below zero remains in the record books as some of the coldest days in U.S. meteorological history. With the scenic mountains as a backdrop, people by the truckload arrived for Mass and would stay the remainder of the day to celebrate. At the end of the day, everyone would leave and the nearest resident was some three to five miles away from Fr. Manente. So, one Sunday night, and upon everyone’s departure, he made his way to the kitchen and made some dinner. Afterwards, he decided to go into the backyard, but changed his mind after realizing it was a cemetery. Perhaps it was a little to eerie for the Father, everyone presumes. “He sits down on the front steps of this very small chapel and notices what he thought was a wolf – because he had never seen a coyote,” Elizondo retells the story. “So, he wonders what he’s doing in the middle of nowhere. He was meant to evangelize, he thought, and here he was with nothing but the stars, the mountains and the coyote to keep him company.” Canales continues, “The coyote looks up at the moonless sky and begins baying. He said that for the longest time the coyote looked up to the stars and sang. Father realized that the coyote was praising God for all his beauty and all his nature. And after that, Fr. Manente didn’t feel alone anymore. He felt the presence of God. He said that he came to evangelize the people and a simple coyote evangelized him.” “That pretty much put his whole life into perspective and of what was to come,” Gonzalez adds. In 1958, and after a brief stint in Eagles Nest, Fr. Manente returned to Laredo serving the parishes of Holy Redeemer, San Agustin and even the San Francisco de Xavier Chapel. It was during this time that two Spanish Air Force pilots, who had on two occasions tried elsewhere in Texas to start the Cursillo Movement but not succeeded, came to Fr. Manente. Having lived the Cursillo in their native island of Mallorca, off the coast of Spain, with the founder of the Cursillo, Eduardo Bonnin, the airmen stationed at the old Laredo Air Base took their chances with the young steely-eyed priest.
“They went to him to get the Cursillo started and he thought they were just some young locos,” says Canales.According to Elizondo, Fr. Manente complained about the difficulty in organizing a meeting of four men on a Friday, let alone having about 25 guys spend three nights and four days together in a retreat.	Father Manente, far right, accompanies Most Reverend Mariano S. Garriga, Bishop of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, during the blessing of the first Cursillo Center in the US. The center was completed by the volunteers in 1961.
Despite the Father’s reluctance, Spaniards Bernardo Vadell and Agustin Palomino persisted in their efforts to establish the movement. With arms spread wide open, the soldiers prayed openly in the humble chapel, luring Fr. Manente slowly but surely into pursuing this historic endeavor. The next challenge was to find a place that could house a large contingent of men, as well as provide all the necessary facilities. While downtown one day, they inquired about the old Mercy Hospital that is now a nursing home for the elderly on the corner of Juarez and Matamoros across from the Jarvis Plaza, explained Elizondo. Father told them that it was empty and scheduled for demolishing but the pilots insisted on looking inside. They found what they needed including a chapel. Elizondo also noted that Fr. Manente came across a small statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe broken into pieces inside the abandoned hospital. He restored it and it still sits prominently in San Francisco Xavier Church. On May 1, 1958, the Italian and the two Spaniards held the first Cursillo in Laredo. Ironically, Fr. Manente died on the 44th anniversary of living his Cursillo. Nonetheless, the Cursillo lives through the many transpiring over the years in Laredo and spreading throughout Texas as well as the United States. “The Cursillo was probably his greatest accomplishment. He often said that it defined for him what his purpose was as a priest,” says Elizondo. However, his work in shaping the American Cursillo Movement had only begun. In the late 1960s, the Cursillo continued evolving under the watchful eye of Fr. Manente with the admittance of women to the experience. In November 1966, the movement took another step forward with the first all-female Cursillo with 42 participants. There was still more to do. Fr. Manente, inspired by an article appearing in the publication Cursillos de Cristandad, became emboldened to launch a Cursillo for the youth in the summer of 1978. “The concern was that the youth would not take this seriously. That it was too deep,” says Montemayor. But Fr. Manente was a very firm believer in the youth. He used to say, “When you’re searching for God, you’re never too young. Just have an open heart.” It was this belief that enabled him to start the youth Cursillo. That belief and a young charismatic priest affectionately called Fr. Bob were instrumental in the expansion of the movement. Fr. Robert Flickinger landed in Laredo serving San Luis Rey Parish for about three years and accepting the challenge of becoming the first Youth Cursillo spiritual director in November 1978. “I remember Fr. Manente was so excited about the idea,” Fr. Bob recollects. “He approached the rollos in a very different way for the youth. He was my mentor in putting those talks together.” Upon concluding the inaugural Youth Cursillo, Fr. Bob told the Laredo Times (Dec.16, 1978) that he was encouraged and convinced of the potential and dynamic leadership of our youth. He also focused on the historic nature of the feat adding that the “first seed we have planted will grow into a tremendous field and feed Laredo with young leaders convinced of their faith and eager to serve their Church.” Despite his short stay in Laredo, Fr. Bob, much like everyone else, was deeply influenced by Fr. Manente. “He was just an extraordinary man. He was always in control, but entertaining. He was a man who did his work for the Lord,” says Fr. Bob. “If he had a fault, it was that he was so available to the people. He certainly was the pastor of his barrio.” Montemayor concurs with this assessment, reflecting on his generosity. “He was always thinking of others. Always giving. And sometimes he’d go without to make sure that others had,” says Montemayor. “And he never worried about money,” adds Gonzalez. “He had that leap of faith that God would provide and he always did.” This explains why Fr. Manente gave so much of himself to everyone and everything.
Fr. Manente at an anniversary celebration in 1983.	“The garden area at San Francisco Xavier is an oasis in Laredo,” says Fr. Bob. “He loved nature and animals. He was our little St. Francis.” Unlike most people, Fr. Manente enjoyed tending to his other flock – the dogs, cats, birds, deer and other creatures roaming the premises. Amidst the soothing sounds of wildlife singing their praises to the Creator, Fr. Manente would toil the earth on his knees and with his hands and cared for his pets in the same fashion.
“I remember he would even hear confessions in the garden with his pantsall muddy from working in the garden,” says Elizondo. “It was a labor of love for him.” Blondie, who sat at his side even in death, still roams the premises. The bird sanctuary fills the garden with the pleasant songs of praise. And every day begins with the cackle of chickens and the crows of a rooster. “He loved nature so much we went on a 30-day 11,000-mile trip to Alaska,” says Gonzalez. “It was Leo, me, my son Tristan and Fr. Manente who took the trip. And we drove.”
“We never set foot in a motel. We camped the whole way,” adds Canales. “We celebrated Mass every night before supper on the Alaskan trip.” “One of the most surprising things on this trip was that the people in Eagles Nest still remembered him,” says Gonzalez. “They still knew him. They’d call out, ‘Hey, Fr. Manente!’ and he’d wave at everyone. It was amazing.”	The first group of kitchen workers at the Cursillo in Laredo. This group plays a vital role in the success of each retreat. They are called the silent apostles for their dedication and entrega.
Even in death, he’s still very much a part of people’s lives. Amidst the traditional tales of expeditions with his friends – like the $200 fish from Port Mansfield or the whammy of a practical joke he pulled off at Lake Guerrero – Fr. Manente lives on. “I still talk to him daily,” says Canales. “He came into my life shortly after my dad passed away. He was my best friend, my spiritual director and he gave me the greatest concept of who God really is.” Gonzalez concurs. “He gave me an appreciation for life and nature – an appreciation for everything we take for granted.” Like the lesson learned from the sound of a honking goose. According to legend, during one particular Sunday, Fr. Manente became annoyed with the sound of a car horn interrupting the Mass. He sent an usher to check on the inconsiderate person in the vehicle causing the ruckus. When the parishioner opened the door, in waddled a honking goose seemingly complaining about the inaccessibility to the Church. The annoyed fowl amusingly marched to the altar to take its customary place. Satisfied, the goose refrained from making the slightest noise the rest of the celebration. Beginning with his first days as a man of the cloth in Nazi occupied Italy during World War II, where he jeopardized his personal safety in order to secure food for his religious brothers, to his last days on earth in el Rincon del Diablo, Fr. Manente simply sought to spread the good name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Born on July 4th, he brought a different type of liberation to his flock. De Colores!