Catholic bishops meet in Cuba, sign of warmer ties
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| Published on Wednesday, July 11, 2007 |
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By Anthony Boadle
HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters): Latin America's Roman Catholic bishops began their first meeting in Cuba on Tuesday, a sign of improved relations with the region's only communist state.
Energized by Pope Benedict's recent visit to Brazil, some 70 bishops, including four cardinals and a Vatican envoy, will elect new leaders of the Latin American Bishops Conference (CELAM) during the four-day gathering.
The group's presence in Cuba is in itself acknowledgment of an improved climate of ties with the state, a church source said. The Havana meeting is also a show of support by other Latin American clergy for the local Catholic Church, the only major institution in Cuba that is not controlled by the state.
"Of course it's a slap on the back, meaning that we are here to accompany and encourage the church in Cuba," CELAM secretary-general Monsignor Andres Stanovnik of Argentina, told a news conference.
The church's hierarchy has sought better ties with the government by putting years of tensions behind it and avoiding criticism of human rights abuses under the one-party state.
Following the revolution led by Fidel Castro in 1959, Catholicism faced the expulsion of priests and decades of official atheism in Cuba
The church got a big boost from the landmark visit to Cuba by Pope John Paul II in 1998. Churches filled up again and the number of practicing Catholics multiplied.
But it has not been allowed to build new churches, play a role in education or gain access to radio broadcasting.
'MISUNDERSTANDINGS'
In a rare interview with a Catholic priest, state-run television aired comments on Monday by Monsignor Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, a key figure in the Church's dealings with the Castro government.
"I believe the conflicts arose from misunderstandings on both sides. Fortunately, both sides made efforts to overcome difficulties and reach the situation we have today," he said.
Half of Cuba's 300 Catholic priests are foreigners who depend on government visas to remain in the country.
About 60 percent of Cubans are baptized by the Catholic Church, but the number of practicing Catholics remains low and the following for evangelical churches has grown rapidly.
Many Cubans believe in Santeria, a religion based on the worship of Yoruba deities brought by African slaves.
The church recently named a new editor for the magazine Vitral, one of the few independent voices of criticism in Cuba, which is temporarily not publishing. The magazine had been put out in the archdiocese of Pinar del Rio by lay Catholic Dagoberto Valdes, an outspoken critic of the government.
When Castro underwent emergency intestinal surgery and handed over power to his brother Raul Castro a year ago, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, archbishop of Havana, who spent time in a labor camp for his religious beliefs in the 1960s, prayed for his recovery and called on Cubans to remain calm. | | | | Reads : 134 | | | |
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