English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
… I should introduce to you the nation that lives here and lives in the diaspora; Cubans suffer, live and hope here and also suffer, live, and hope out there. We are a single people that, navigating the seas on logs, continues to look for unity… Mons. ++ Pedro Claro Meurice Estíu 24/1/98 (Words of welcome to … Continue reading “Rest in Peace Monsignor++Pedro Claro Meurice Estíu / Ricardo Medina”
Death is step and journey in the essence of life. Archbishop Pedro Meurice Estiu course, retired archbishop of Santiago de Cuba has ended his fruitful and suffering journey for the time he lived. Cuba has lost one of its greatest pastors of all time and has gained one of the holy intercessors who has known … Continue reading “Pedro Claro Meurice: Cuban, Pastor, and Faithful Friend / IntraMuros”
Photos by: Luis Felipe Rojas On numerous occasions I have said that this is not a news blog. Here I can only hope to accumulate my travel reports, to make a map (for me) about the days lived, and on many occasions to be in places but not be visible due to my double condition … Continue reading “Meurice, the Friend / Luis Felipe Rojas”
In memoriam for Pedro Meurice Estiú Archbishop Emeritus of Santiago de Cuba They called Archbishop Pedro Meurice Estiu “the lion of the East” for his more-than-proven bravery in the face of the arbitrary and authoritarian. That January 24, 1998, in Antonia Maceo Plaza in Santiago de Cuba, his face is serious, deep in thought. Pope … Continue reading “Meurice’s Roar / Yoani Sánchez”
When Cubans find themselves struggling with personal problems they usually prefer to visit a babalao so that they could toss their shells instead of confessing to a priest in the church. Catholicism has the most followers on the island. But the beliefs brought over by former African slaves of the XVI and XVII centuries also … Continue reading “Meurice, Cuba’s most Beloved Priest”
14ymedio, Havana, 1 July 2023 — Reporter Francisco Herodes Díaz Echemendía, a collaborator of 14ymedio, was prohibited from entering the cathedral of Santiago de Cuba to attend the funeral mass of Pedro Claro Meurice Estiú, who was archbishop of that city. The remains of the priest, who died in 2011 in Miami, were transferred this … Continue reading “The Cuban Police Prevent ’14ymedio’ From Accessing the Burial of the Bishop Who Challenged Raul Castro”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 January 2018 — Three Catholic priests have addressed a letter to President Raul Castro in which they ask the president to let Cubans “choose in freedom,” not vote. In this way, the priests warn, the island will have “different” political options to “prevent that one day, given whatever circumstances, Cuba is submerged in … Continue reading “Three Priests Ask Raúl Castro For Real Elections To “Avoid Violent Changes””
Luis Felipe Rojas, 20 December 2016 — Today I am going to tell you something you absolutely are not going to believe. But I don’t care, the military dictatorship violates human rights in cold blood and many don’t even want to know. Great is the fool who defends them. The brothers Geordanis and Adael Muñoz Guerrero are two … Continue reading “Pagan, A Very Bad Man With a Cuban Ministry of the Interior ID / Luis Felipe Rojas”
Note: This post is from March 2012, in advance of the Pope’s visit to Cuba The topic most discussed these days with regard to the Cuban reality is the upcoming visit of Pope Benedict XVI. The official press has made clear its predictions, of course favorable to the regime, and the head of the Roman … Continue reading “My Opinion / Yoaxis Marcheco Suárez”
The scenario is different. The visitor also. When the Polish Pope, John Paul II, Karol Wojtyla, visited Cuba in 1998 he found Monsignor Pedro Claro Meurice Estiu as archbishop in Santiago de Cuba, and in him, the loudest Cuban voice rose among those who had such a possibility. The Pope’s “Let Cuba open itself to … Continue reading “Another Pope, Another Cuba, Another Church / Mario Barroso”
Taking into account the time elapsed between the first and the second papal visit (fourteen years and two months), for most of my generation, this was the last chance to see a pope at home. The Pope came, bowed, prayed, celebrated two Masses, talked, met and prayed to God for all Cubans. In the media … Continue reading “Do We Have Changes? / Fernando Dámaso”
What a surprise his Holiness Pope Benedict XVI will find when he visits the two main cities of Cuba. To kick off the Year of Jubilee, the repressive machinery unleashed a wave of aggression in nearly all the cities in the country against dissidents who were simply trying to assist religious mass on Saturday in … Continue reading “January 8th in Cuba: Jubilee and Repression / Luis Felipe Rojas”
We received him like a Father who, in this land, watches over- with dignity and Cuban roots- the bells of Demajagua and the holy image of the Virgin of Charity (Pedro Meurice, Santiago de Cuba). It has already become the talk of the media that Benedict XVI, the post-John Paul II pope, will visit the … Continue reading “Habemus Papam? / Luis Felipe Rojas”
What happens when the old art forms of attacking and killing become the norms of a country? What can we expect from oppressors and the oppressed if not the most acid fruit of human relations: violence? Belkis, wife of former political prisoner Jose Daniel Ferrer, had her arm cut open after she was attacked by … Continue reading “Agenda of the Political Police, Agenda of the State / Luis Felipe Rojas”
