Madrid, Spain, Mar 27, 2008 / 13:28 pm
A Cuban priest who works on the Spanish island of Tenerife has been named an honorary Prelate by Pope Benedict XVI. Father Saturnino Agustin Yanes Valer is 80 and is deaf.
Msgr. Yanes, as he is now referred to in his diocese, received the honorary title after 50 years of pastoral service to the deaf in Spain.
One of his most recent projects is the blog http://www.pastoraldelsordo.blogspot.com, which offers the readings of the Mass in simple language and a Sunday homily in sign language.
Msgr. Yanes was born in Havana, Cuba on February 26, 1929. His parents, natives of Spain, returned to Tenerife when he was only seven months old. At the age of five he was diagnosed with an illness that left him deaf.
He has several brothers who are also priests.