Author: 14ymedio

He added: “They (“mission houses”) are small signs of the presence of God in our neighborhoods, as well as a consistent source of support that make the words of Saint Paul the Apostle come alive: ‘I urge you to lead a life worthy of the vocation to which you were called.’”

At the moment, there are seventy of these types of houses in the Holguín Diocese.

Quoting Saint Paul, Bergoglio then said: “With all humility and gentleness, and with patience, support each other in love. Take every care to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together.”

Mission houses are an evangelization initiative born in the 1960’s, and although the authorities in Havana did not actively endorse them, they were never forbidden. Currently there 2,330 mission houses throughout Cuba.

They are places where baptisms are held, where stable communities gather, and where regular events take place. The Cuban Bishops Conference considers them “one of the most important assets of the Church.”

Holguín’s bishop, Emilio Aranguren Echevarría had a few words of thanks for the Pope. The Bishop also told him that his visit compels his diocese to promote “pastoral work focused on bringing people together.”

The Bishop was referring to working towards “bringing friends, relatives, neighbors, and fellow citizens back together, as a first step that might help in (Cuba’s) necessary reconciliation.”

According to its figures, the Diocese of Holguín is one of eleven on the island. It includes four vicariates, six pastoral work zones, 28 parish churches, four quasi-parishes (two in Las Tunas and two in Holguín provinces), 28 non-parish churches, 21 shrines, and 170 mission and prayer houses.

The pastoral work is borne by 32 priests, twelve men consecrated to religious life (ten of whom are priests), four deacons, 55 consecrated women representing 17 orders, and three women belonging to the Missionary Oblate Sisters of Mary Immaculate. Evangelization, catechism, and missionary work are the responsibility of over 200 lay people. The Diocese also counts on 171 Eucharistic ministers.

The Pope’s act in Holguín was his first in this Cuban city, the third largest in the country, where upon his arrival he was received by Bishop Aranguren and local authorities.

After Mass, the Pope plans to visit the Hill of the Cross, a promontory from which the whole city can be seen, and from where he will bless its people.

Next, Francis will travel to Santiago de Cuba for the third leg of his trip. Upon arrival he will meet with the island’s bishops.

During his four days in Cuba, Pope Francis will visit Havana, where he will celebrate Mass at the Plaza of the Revolution, and meet with Raúl Castro. He will visit Holguín, a province that will receive a pope for the first time, and will also visit Santiago de Cuba Province, where he will visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, the country’s patroness.

The Pontiff will depart Santiago for Washington, the second part of his visit to Cuba and the United States. These two countries restored ties after 54 years of hostilities with Francis’ personal mediation, thus giving a political and diplomatic dimension to this pastoral visit.

Accompanied by the catchphrase “Missionary of Mercy,” Francis is travelling to a Cuba that is very different than the one John Paul II encountered. That occasion was a historical milestone in the rapprochement between the Church and State after decades of disputes and tensions between the latter and the Castro Revolution.

Karol Wojtła’s visit – during which he was accompanied by then-bishop Jorge Bergoglio – marked a “before and after.” According to Father José Félix Pérez, spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops Conference of Cuba, John Paul II’s visit “gave public visibility and renewed energy” to the Cuban Catholic Church.

Subsequently, a reformist Raúl Castro reinforced this rapprochement. In power since 2008, Castro took the significant step of committing to the release of political prisoners after his unprecedented dialogue with the country’s Catholic hierarchy in 2010. Father Pérez added: “We now have better communication. It’s more fluid. We share a very positive, cordial spirit.” This assessment is shared by the ruling Communist Party of Cuba. According to a recent interview given to EFE by Caridad Diego, Director of the Religious Affairs Office of the Communist Party, the latter’s relations with the Church are at a “good level.”

As part of this détente, the State has returned churches, buildings, and land that was property of the Catholic Church which had been expropriated by the Revolution. Furthermore, the Cuban government has for the first time since 1959 authorized the construction of two new churches, one in Havana and the other in the western province of Pinar del Río. Likewise, nuns are now being allowed to attend to the sick in hospitals, and to senior citizens in a country facing the challenge of an increasingly aging population.

Nevertheless, the Church is calling for more public spaces allowing it direct contact with the people, such as in the area of education. It is also asking for more access to the media, which on the island are owned by the State.

In the area of education, the Church has been developing since the end of the nineties ninety adult education courses. Since 2012, roughly 500 Havana entrepreneurs have benefited from the “CubaEmprende” (“EntrepreneurialCuba”) program, which aims to train the self-employed how to run their businesses.

The growth in the island’s public sector is one of the measures implemented by Raúl Castro in his reforms aimed at “updating” the island’s Socialist model. The Catholic Church supports this plan, although on occasion it has criticized the slow pace of change.

When taking into account the numbers of baptisms, it is estimated that 60% of Cuba’s population (the island has 11.1 million inhabitants) is Catholic. However, the percentage of Cubans who attend Sunday mass drops to two percent. There are 305 parishes, 357 priests, 776 consecrated religious, 585 women and 191 men, belonging to 96 communities. These numbers are still modest when compared to the presence of the Catholic Church prior to 1959. After the Revolution came to power, 131 priests were expelled from Cuba, and almost 500 “left of their own free will.”

Still, religiosity on the island is distinguished by its syncretism with religions such as Santería, which enjoys great popularity, and whose adherents find no incompatibility with it and Catholicism.

Caridad Diego used the following example. “In Cuba, it is normal for a person who was baptized into the Catholic Church to be initiated into Santería, make animal sacrifices, perform Abakuá rituals, and on top of that, be a Freemason as well.”

According to the data of the Office of Religious Affairs of the Communist Party, there are 55 officially recognized and registered Evangelical and Protestant denominations in Cuba.

Just outside the Ladies in White’s new headquarters in the Lawton neighborhood, in the very early hours of today, twenty Ladies in White were arrested when they left to go to the Plaza of the Revolution, including their leader Berta Soler. Also detained with there were the dissidents Angel Moya, Antonio Gonzalez Rodiles and Jose Daniel Ferrer. The latter reported via Twitter that “They took me handcuffed behind my back to the police station at Regla.”

The UNPACU leader, said, “Later, again handcuffed behind my back they released me again in front of the Bus and Truck Terminal that transports passengers to Oriente and other provinces east of the capital.” Ferrer added that in Santiago de Cuba “political police deployed special forces to suppress any solidarity action.”

At the center of the country, in the province of Villa Clara, at least 25 activisits belonging to various organizations attempted to board a vehicle to travel to Havana. The police stopped them and hours later they were taken to their homes where they remain under heavy surveillance.

For her part, the regime opponent Martha Beatriz Roque was again invited this Sunday to meet with Pope Francis, this time at the Havana Cathedral. The invitation was communicated to her personally by the secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature who seemed stunned by the arrest that she had suffered yesterday when trying to comply with a similar invitation. Also invited to this afternoon’s meeting is the independent journalist Miriam Leiva.

In his welcoming speech, Raul Castro recalled “the memorable meeting” he had with the Pope at the Vatican last May that “provided an opportunity to exchange ideas on some of the most important issues of the world.”

The Cuban president said that “the government and the Catholic Church in Cuba maintain relations in an uplifting atmosphere… We have closely followed his pronouncements, the Apostolic Exhortation ‘The Joy of Gospel,’ about social issues, and the encyclical letter ‘Praise be to you’.” added Raul Castro.

“We thank you for your support for the dialogue between the United States and Cuba,” the Cuban leader emphasized, calling the restoration of diplomatic relations “a first step in the process towards normalization of ties between the two countries.” But he insisted on the need, in relations between nations, to “fully respect the inalienable right of every State to choose its political system.”

Francis spoke of the victory of the culture of “dialogue and engagement over the system – dead forever – of dynasties and groups.”

“We are moving resolutely in updating our economic and social model to build a prosperous and sustainable socialism,” he said. He lost no opportunity to remind the pope that “the blockade, which causes human losses and deprivation to Cuban families,” is “cruel, immoral and illegal” and said that it “must stop.” He also spoke out against the “predatory actions of the rich countries and large multinationals.”

For his part, the Pope used his words to encourage the governments of Cuba and the United States to “continue to advance” in normalizing their relations and “developing their full potential.” He repeated the warning he has pronounced on several opportunities: “The world needs reconciliation in this atmosphere of World War III in stages in which we are living.”

Generating special sympathy among Cuban democrats was the choice of the Bishop of Rome to quote from José Martí in saying that the process of rapprochement between Cuba and the United States is a sign of the victory of the culture of “dialogue and engagement over the system – dead forever – of dynasties and groups.”

Francis said that “this apostolic visit also coincides with the centenary of the declaration of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre as the Patroness of Cuba, by Benedict XV.” He recalled that his program in Cuba will take him “to Cobre, as a son and pilgrim, to as our Mother for all her Cuban children and for this beloved Nation, that it may pass through the paths of justice, peace, freedom and reconciliation.”

John Paul II was also present in the Pope’s speech, evoking “his ardent appeal” that “Cuba opens itself with all its magnificent possibilities to the world and that the world open itself to Cuba”

At the end of his speech, the papal entourage began an extensive tour of the streets of Havana heading toward the Nunciature in the Playa municipality.

However, it is even harder to understand why our bishops accept this imposition.

To attend the Mass of Benedict XVI in Havana the parishes lists had to give the lists to the government. Now, that sad story repeats itself

In Candelaria, the town where I live, at least three of the faithful who originally had planned to go to the Pope’s Mass in Havana, will not be able to go. On learning that they had opened up these spaces, I talked with the pastor so that other people could fill these places and his response was blunt. “We can’t do it because the Party already has the lists.” And he added that surely “they are going to fill those spaces with their people.” I communicated my discomfort with a situation, and that this wasn’t fair and that we should not accept it, but he only argued, “there is no choice, I can’t do anything.”

Something similar has happened with the planned meeting between Pope Francis and young students of Father Felix Varela Cultural Center in Havana. It only took a letter from the University Students Federation (FEU) addressed to the cardinal for him to arrange for the students from the cultural center to share with the FEU the place and time of the meeting. Those originally invited no longer have priority, while the official organization has undertaken a strong campaign in the universities to bring many students, because according to the words of some of their leaders, “we have to be the majority and impose ourselves.”

It is important to note that when we visited John Paul II we were the ones who prepared for the visit and it wasn’t necessary to give any list to the Party, nor to give space on our bus to their members. This visit was a success and we were able to participate in the Masses in peace. All this was possible thanks to the autonomy and independence of the Church with regards to the State, and its being an incarnated and prophetic church that is known to be at the side of its people. But when Benedict XVI came it was no longer the same. The Church had changed its prophecy with building permits and its incarnation for permits for processions.

A youth ministry meeting with the pope was canceled without explanation. Instead the pope met with Fidel Castro and his family

Under these conditions, the Government – with the consent of the bishops – manipulated this visit according to their will. So much so that a meeting of the youth ministry at the nunciature with the Pope was cancelled without any explanations. Instead, the Pope met with Fidel Castro and his family.

To attend the Mass of Benedict XVI in Havana it was necessary for the parishes to make a list of the attendees and deliver the lists to the Government, and their agents were at the doors of the buses to verify it. At the end of the call a large number of their agents who weren’t written down anywhere got on the vehicles, but no one could even ask for explanations. Now, this sad story is repeated.

Never, for any activity of the Church, such as youth meetings, marriages, ordinations of religious or bishops and even the Cardinal, did the organization share these lists with the Government. Nor did they deliver lists to control any of the internal matters, because this is the sole responsibility of the Church itself.

The Church must not cede its role and mission in exchange for favors that sooner or later require payback. For now, may the Lord of history protect us. We are like lost lambs without shepherds we can trust.

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*Editor’s note: Jorge Guillen Garcia, author of this article, is a Catholic layman of the parish of Our Lady of Candelaria in Candelaria (Artemis).