Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Santiago

Carlos Manuel Cecilio Rodríguez Santiago, also known as "Blessed Charlie" (November 22, 1918 – July 13, 1963), was a Catholic catechist and liturgist who was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 29, 2001. He is the first Puerto Rican and the first Caribbean-born layperson in history to be beatified. Rodríguez was born in 1918, in Caguas, Puerto Rico, the son of Manuel Baudelio Rodriguez Rodriguez and Herminia Santiago Esteras, both from large, Catholic families. He was baptized at the nearby Sweet Name of Jesus Church (now the cathedral of the region) on May 4, 1919. Rodríguez was the second of five brothers and sisters. Two of his sisters married, while another became a Carmelite nun. His brother, José (Pepe) Rodriguez became a Benedictine monk and the first Puerto Rican to become abbot of his monastery. In 1925, a fire destroyed the family's residence and business, and they were forced to live with his mother's parents. That same year, Rodríguez was enrolled to study at the Colegio Católico Notre Dame, attached to the parish church. After graduating the Catholic elementary school, he began to attend Gautier Benítez High School. His desire to become a priest was undermined by ill health. At that point, he began to develop ulcerative colitis. After two years at the local public high school, he transferred to the Academy of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in San Juan. His medical problems, however, caused him to leave before graduation. He returned to the family home and continued his high school studies as best he could while working as a clerk, finally receiving his diploma in May 1939. While Rodríguez was working as an office clerk in various towns of the region, he dedicated his resources to promote a greater knowledge of the Catholic faith by promoting a greater understanding of the Catholic liturgy. Using articles on liturgical subjects he had translated and edited, he began publishing Liturgy and Christian Culture, which he dedicated innumerable hours.