During this period, Varela established a literary society and published Miscelánea filosófica,[2] a popular book on philosophy, before he was 30 years old.

He published many articles about human rights, as well as multiple essays on religious tolerance, cooperation between the English and Spanish-speaking communities, and the importance of education.

In 1853, several years after Varela had left New York for Florida, the parish moved again to a former Protestant church building on Mott Street in the Five Points neighborhood of Manhattan.

In this post, he played a significant role in how the American Church dealt with the tremendous influx of Irish refugees, which was beginning at the time.

Varela served as a theological consultant to the committee of American bishops, which drew up the famous Baltimore Catechism, which began a standard teaching tool for Catholic children in the nation until the mid-20th century.

[1] Varela's body was dis-interred from Tolomato Cemetery and returned to Cuba to be laid to rest in the University of Havana's Aula Magna.

On Easter Sunday, April 8, 2012, both the Archdiocese of New York and the Archdiocese of Miami (each having significant Catholic Cuban-American populations) announced that the Vatican's Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints had declared Varela "Venerable," meaning he lived a virtuous life within the Catholic faith to a heroic degree and as such is worthy of praise (veneration).

[1] For him to be beatified, the next stage of the process since he is not a martyr, a miracle (officially deemed to be so from a neutral theological and scientific point of view) must be proved attributable to his direct intercession.