Chaplain Luis María Padilla giving the final rites to a wounded soldier amidst gunfire in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, 1962
This Pulitzer-Prize winning photo taken by Héctor Rondón captured the moment Navy chaplain Luis María Padilla braved the streets of Puerto Cabello, Venezuela to deliver the final rites of a dying soldier. Originally entitled “Aid from The Padre,” it is best known by the name “The Priest and the Dying Soldier.”
The soldier was amongst the 400 dead during El Porteñazo, a five-day Communist rebellion where rebels attempted to take over the city of Puerto Cabello from June 2 to June 6 of 1962. The rebellion itself was crushed on June 3, but the rebels’ stronghold of Solano Castle did not collapse until June 6.
This Pulitzer-Prize winning photo taken by Héctor Rondón captured the moment Navy chaplain Luis María Padilla braved the streets of Puerto Cabello, Venezuela to deliver the final rites of a dying soldier. Originally entitled “Aid from The Padre,” it is best known by the name “The Priest and the Dying Soldier.”
The soldier was amongst the 400 dead during El Porteñazo, a five-day Communist rebellion where rebels attempted to take over the city of Puerto Cabello from June 2 to June 6 of 1962. The rebellion itself was crushed on June 3, but the rebels’ stronghold of Solano Castle did not collapse until June 6.