HABRA DOS CUBANOS EN LA CEREMONIA DE TOMA DE POSESION DEL PRESIDENTE BARACK OBAMA

Richard Blanco, a cuban-american poet, is writing and delivering the inaugural poem

Rev. Luis León the Espiscopal priest who will deliver the benediction is  a Pedro Pan child 

The Presidential Inaugural Committee has selected the Rev. Luis Leon, an Episcopal priest in Washington, to deliver the benediction at President Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony on Jan. 21.

Leon, who ministers at St. John’s Church, an Episcopal parish near the White House and the one that Obama most frequently attends with his family, confirmed his selection to The Huffington Post via phone on Tuesday night.

Leon is the 14th rector of St. John's Church. He began his tenure there in 1995, after serving as rector of Trinity Church in Wilmington, Del., and St. Paul's Church in Paterson, N.J. He is known for building inner-city parishes through spiritual leadership, preaching, stewardship and outreach that involves parish members in the community. He teaches courses nationwide in parish building and stewardship and is a frequently requested commencement speaker.

Leon began his spiritual journey when he was baptized into the Episcopal Church in Guantanamo, Cuba. In 1961, when he was 12 years old, he came to the U.S. on the "Operation Peter Pan" flights out of Cuba, joining thousands of children whose parents feared for their future in Cuba. When he arrived in America he was supported by the Episcopal Church in Miami.

Leon attended the University of the South, graduating in 1971. He received a Masters in Divinity degree from the Virginia Theological Seminary in 1977, and in 1999 was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from the University of the South, where he is a member of the Board of Regents. He is a founding member of both the Washington Interfaith Network and the Wilmington Interfaith Network.