Search results for: Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba

A Way of the Cross Marked by Emigration and Tensions with the Communist Party of Cuba

14ymedio, Juan Diego Rodríguez / Juan Izquierdo, Havana, 30 March 2024 — The most significant station of the Way of the Cross held in Old Havana this Friday, when dozens of Catholics took to the streets under the tense gaze of the Police, occurred on the block of the municipal committee of the Communist Party. … Continue reading “A Way of the Cross Marked by Emigration and Tensions with the Communist Party of Cuba”

Cuba’s Communist Party Forbids Holy Week Processions

14ymedio, 26 March 2024 Havana — Several churches will see their Holy Week celebrations scaled back because the Cuban Communist Party is not issuing permits for street processions. Sources within the Catholic Church have informed 14ymedio that celebrations in at least two parishes in Villa Clara province have been suspended, while other members of the … Continue reading “Cuba’s Communist Party Forbids Holy Week Processions”

Cuban Communist Party Blocks Religious Procession Honoring Cuba’s Patron Saint

14ymedio, Havana, 1 September 2023 — On Thursday, Catholic priest Alberto Reyes accused the Communist Party of Esmeralda, a town in Camaguey province, of preventing a procession honoring the Virgin of Charity from taking place on the night of September 8. Without explanation, officials said the event must instead take place at 6:00 PM. “Under … Continue reading “Cuban Communist Party Blocks Religious Procession Honoring Cuba’s Patron Saint”

‘I Do Not Rule Out an Uprising Against the Cuban Regime, But There Are Many Factors Against It’

14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Madrid, 22 April 2023 – On a visit to Madrid, a Catholic priest from Camagüey, Alberto Reyes, talks about Cuba as an island out of time. “There’s no present and no future there”, he says, “only the lethargy of continuity”. The most obvious symptom: the ‘re-election’ of Miguel Díaz-Canel, a decisive bet … Continue reading “‘I Do Not Rule Out an Uprising Against the Cuban Regime, But There Are Many Factors Against It’”

The Message of the Cuban Bishops Avoids Alluding to the Negotiation on Political Prisoners

14ymedio, Madrid, 28 April 2023 — The Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba (COCC) issued an official statement this Friday about the meeting they held two days ago with President Miguel Díaz-Canel and other senior officials of the country. In it, they did not allude to something that Ariel Suárez, secretary of the Episcopal Conference, … Continue reading “The Message of the Cuban Bishops Avoids Alluding to the Negotiation on Political Prisoners”

A Desperate Cuban Regime Hopes to Soften Up the U.S. through Vatican Mediation

14ymedio, Havana, 8 March 2023 — The Cubans detained after the 11 July 2021 (11J) protests are Havana’s only bargaining chip in its gambit to improve relations with Washington. Facing a severe and widespred economic crisis, the government is hoping for a diplomatic thaw that has yet to begin. Allowing the detainees to resettle in … Continue reading “A Desperate Cuban Regime Hopes to Soften Up the U.S. through Vatican Mediation”

Cuban Opposition Platform D Frente Thanks Cardinal Stella for Asking for ‘Clemency’ for Cuba’s Political Prisoners

14ymedio, Havana, 11 February 2023 — The opposition platform D Frente [D Front] thanked Pope Francis this Friday for Vatican Special Envoy Cardinal Beniamino Stella’s asking the Cuban government for “an amnesty or some form of clemency” for Cuba’s political prisoners. Stella, whose visit to the island starting on January 23, followed a strategy of … Continue reading “Cuban Opposition Platform D Frente Thanks Cardinal Stella for Asking for ‘Clemency’ for Cuba’s Political Prisoners”

Cuba’s Foreign Ministry Vetoes the Presence of Several Priests at the Event with the Cardinal in the University Great Hall

14ymedio, Havana, 9 February 2023 — The Havana journalist Adrián Martínez Cádiz was one of those invited by the authorities of the Catholic Church to an event this Wednesday at the University of Havana where Cardinal Beniamino Stella, envoy of Pope Francis, participated. The guest list included laymen, priests and nuns, and had to be approved by the Ministry … Continue reading “Cuba’s Foreign Ministry Vetoes the Presence of Several Priests at the Event with the Cardinal in the University Great Hall”

D Frente Fears that This Year Could be Worse than Last Year for Cubans

14ymedio, Havana, 5 January 2023 – The platform D Frente, made up of activists, intellectuals and opposition groups, sent a message to the Cuban government on Thursday denouncing its responsibility for the visible impoverishment of the Island at the start of 2023. The message challenged the regime to respond to the “hard reality of the … Continue reading “D Frente Fears that This Year Could be Worse than Last Year for Cubans”

Cuban Bishops Call for Freedom for a ‘Good Number’ of Prisoners at Christmas

14ymedio, Havana, 1 December 2022 — On Wednesday, the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba published a message in which it signaled “the hunger, loneliness and lack of freedom” experienced by the citizens of the Island and once again called for freedom for the political prisoners. The statement, whose theme is the preparation for Christmas, … Continue reading “Cuban Bishops Call for Freedom for a ‘Good Number’ of Prisoners at Christmas”

Jesuits Denounce ‘The Dictatorial Power’ that Forced the Order’s Superior to Leave Cuba

14ymedio, Juan Izquierdo, Havana, 13 September 2022 — The Dominican priest David Pantaleón, a superior of the Jesuits in Cuba, left the island on Tuesday due to the Government’s refusal to extend his residence permit. The Jesuit is already in his own country, according to a source. The also former president of the Cuban Conference … Continue reading “Jesuits Denounce ‘The Dictatorial Power’ that Forced the Order’s Superior to Leave Cuba”

July 11th (11J) Was a ‘Bright Day’ Three Cuban Priests Agree

14ymedio, Xavier Carbonell, Salamanca, 14 July 2022 — The oldest man in the cells wears a clerical shirt and a bandage on his head. Four stitches have been sewn over the wound. In the midst of the tumult of 11J in Camagüey, between the sweat and the cries for freedom, a hitman unloaded a bat … Continue reading “July 11th (11J) Was a ‘Bright Day’ Three Cuban Priests Agree”

Cuban Priest Alberto Reyes Will be in the Civic March Despite the Ban

14ymedio, Havana, 15 November 2021 — Camagüey priest Alberto Reyes, who has demonstrated on many occasions against the Cuban Government, has released a video in which he claims to have been warned that priests like him who participate in the Civic March for Change called by the Archipelago opposition collective will be arrested. “They have called … Continue reading “Cuban Priest Alberto Reyes Will be in the Civic March Despite the Ban”

Cuba: ‘Some Offer to Walk with a Rose in Hand, and Others are Prepared with Bats and Death Slogans’

14ymedio, Havana, November 12, 2021–In addition to the letter from bishops calling for “the changes necessary” in Cuba and from several priests demanding “respect for those”  who would like to join the Civic March for Change scheduled for Monday, more Catholic clergy have declared themselves against the violence with which the Government threatens to respond … Continue reading “Cuba: ‘Some Offer to Walk with a Rose in Hand, and Others are Prepared with Bats and Death Slogans’”

A Brief Chronology of Disregard and Intolerance in Cuba

14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, November 2, 2021 — The dictatorship’s most frequently recurring formula to impede or interfere with changes that do not align with their interests has been to incarcerate. They’ve raised the bar in two ways: first, by presenting as apocalyptic the results of anything they consider a “return to the past,” and … Continue reading “A Brief Chronology of Disregard and Intolerance in Cuba”