Cuba USA
By Armando F. Valladares
*April 18, 2008;
Page A16The Wall Street Journal
New YorkUSA
La Nueva Cuba
April 19, 2008
Pope Benedict XVI is in the midst of the first journey to America of his pontificate, and he met with President George W. Bush this week. Hopefully this visit will reinforce the need for a joint commitment to freedom in Cuba.
The Catholic Church has taken a hardline position against right-wing dictatorships. But in Cuba, the Church has been silent – or worse – ever since 1960, when Fidel Castro expelled hundreds of Catholic priests because they alerted their parishioners of the communist danger surfacing in government circles.
In one especially shameful episode in the 1980s, Ventura, Cipriano and Eugenio García Marín and their mother entered the nunciature in Havana to ask for political asylum. Two days later they saw several priests get out of a black limousine. They were special troops from Castro's political police who entered the Holy See's diplomatic mission with the authorization and complicity of the pope's diplomats in Havana. The three brothers were executed, and their mother was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Cardinal Tarsicio Bertone's visit to Cuba this February was a different kind of outrage. In statements by the Vatican secretary of state, published by L'Osservatore Romano shortly after the cardinal's visit, the cardinal is quoted saying, contrary to historical fact, that Cuba's Catholic Church is not a "persecuted Church." He also described Cuba's universities as "renowned centers of higher education." In reality, they are sophisticated factories of atheism and apostasy.
The cardinal also said: "As we all know, Cuba's crucial problems are due to the embargo imposed by the U.S. and the economic sanctions of the European Union which slow down its development." The Vatican's chief diplomat appears to have forgotten that for almost 50 years the "crucial problem" of Cuba has been the communist regime.
Cardinal Bertone stated that the Vatican wants to encourage a dialogue between Washington and Havana that could "turn the page" in the antagonistic relations between the two governments. He added that this dialogue was also "the expectation of Cuba's president," Raul Castro. He added that he "assured [Raul Castro] that the Holy See will work hard to obtain the elimination, or at least the amelioration of the sanctions."
By pressuring the U.S. to lift the embargo, Cardinal Bertone plays the sad role of an effective ambassador of Cuban communist diplomacy. He also subverts the appraisal of Cuba's real "crucial problems" when he denounces the external embargo, while remaining silent about a communist regime that muzzles and holds in misery 11 million souls.
After the cardinal's visit, Havana promptly announced a series of cosmetic "reforms," which include financial incentives for small farmers; permitting the sale of laptop computers and cellular phones; the eventual weakening of restrictions for Cubans to travel abroad; allowing Cubans to stay in hotels, most of which have been part of Fidel Castro's abominable "tourist apartheid"; and the signing of an international agreement on social and economic rights.
But these measures may be little more than tools to facilitate Havana's ad hoc ambassador's work in Washington. Furthermore, the regime could promptly rescind such measures, just as Fidel Castro discarded previous liberalizing reforms after hoodwinking naive foreigners.
The Vatican's diplomatic behavior helps prolong the agony of my sisters and brothers in Cuba, and creates a grave problem of conscience for loyal Cuban Catholics who expect better from the pope. It in no way diminishes their veneration to express respectful disappointment and even disagreement with the Vatican.
I pray that future developments will prove wrong the concerns of so many Cuban Catholics on the island and in exile. Both the pope and President Bush have immense responsibilities before God and the Cuban people. It is my most sincere hope that they will not forget Cubans' aspirations for freedom, peace and prosperity.
- "the Catholic Leaders Of Cuba Need To Stand With Their People"
By Derek J. Bekebrede Published: Tuesday, April 24, 2012 Today, Cardinal Jaime L. Ortega, the head of the Catholic Church in Cuba, will speak privately with a group of undergraduates and publicly in the JFK Jr. Forum at the Institute of Politics. The...
- Pope Benedict Xvi: Itinerary For Cuba, 2012
Press release of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba with regard to the visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI, having been invited by Cuba’s President Raúl Castro and the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba, has approved...
- Have You Done Anything?
I don't know about you my FREEDOM loving brethren, but I am still reeling after the obvious slight by Cardinal "Sopranos" Bertone. El Cafe Cubano suggested that you refrain from donating for several weeks and slipping a note in the collection basket:...
- Can’t Put Lipstick On A Pig
Now matter how the media and apartheid dictatorship worshippers try to spin the retirement of the “reflective’ dictator, you can’t put lipstick on the transition(well actually raulita can wear lipstick) because it’s the same ole communist dictatorship....
-
Vatican Cardinal heading for Cuba Ziva at Blog for Cuba has a post concerning a Vatican Cardinal heading for Cuba this week. Now is the time to flood the Pope's e-mail and that of Cardinal Renato Martino: [email protected] Office of the Cardinal-Secretary...
Cuba USA
"CUBA AND THE VATICAN"
By Armando F. Valladares
*April 18, 2008;
Page A16The Wall Street Journal
New YorkUSA
La Nueva Cuba
April 19, 2008
Pope Benedict XVI is in the midst of the first journey to America of his pontificate, and he met with President George W. Bush this week. Hopefully this visit will reinforce the need for a joint commitment to freedom in Cuba.
The Catholic Church has taken a hardline position against right-wing dictatorships. But in Cuba, the Church has been silent – or worse – ever since 1960, when Fidel Castro expelled hundreds of Catholic priests because they alerted their parishioners of the communist danger surfacing in government circles.
In one especially shameful episode in the 1980s, Ventura, Cipriano and Eugenio García Marín and their mother entered the nunciature in Havana to ask for political asylum. Two days later they saw several priests get out of a black limousine. They were special troops from Castro's political police who entered the Holy See's diplomatic mission with the authorization and complicity of the pope's diplomats in Havana. The three brothers were executed, and their mother was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Cardinal Tarsicio Bertone's visit to Cuba this February was a different kind of outrage. In statements by the Vatican secretary of state, published by L'Osservatore Romano shortly after the cardinal's visit, the cardinal is quoted saying, contrary to historical fact, that Cuba's Catholic Church is not a "persecuted Church." He also described Cuba's universities as "renowned centers of higher education." In reality, they are sophisticated factories of atheism and apostasy.
The cardinal also said: "As we all know, Cuba's crucial problems are due to the embargo imposed by the U.S. and the economic sanctions of the European Union which slow down its development." The Vatican's chief diplomat appears to have forgotten that for almost 50 years the "crucial problem" of Cuba has been the communist regime.
Cardinal Bertone stated that the Vatican wants to encourage a dialogue between Washington and Havana that could "turn the page" in the antagonistic relations between the two governments. He added that this dialogue was also "the expectation of Cuba's president," Raul Castro. He added that he "assured [Raul Castro] that the Holy See will work hard to obtain the elimination, or at least the amelioration of the sanctions."
By pressuring the U.S. to lift the embargo, Cardinal Bertone plays the sad role of an effective ambassador of Cuban communist diplomacy. He also subverts the appraisal of Cuba's real "crucial problems" when he denounces the external embargo, while remaining silent about a communist regime that muzzles and holds in misery 11 million souls.
After the cardinal's visit, Havana promptly announced a series of cosmetic "reforms," which include financial incentives for small farmers; permitting the sale of laptop computers and cellular phones; the eventual weakening of restrictions for Cubans to travel abroad; allowing Cubans to stay in hotels, most of which have been part of Fidel Castro's abominable "tourist apartheid"; and the signing of an international agreement on social and economic rights.
But these measures may be little more than tools to facilitate Havana's ad hoc ambassador's work in Washington. Furthermore, the regime could promptly rescind such measures, just as Fidel Castro discarded previous liberalizing reforms after hoodwinking naive foreigners.
The Vatican's diplomatic behavior helps prolong the agony of my sisters and brothers in Cuba, and creates a grave problem of conscience for loyal Cuban Catholics who expect better from the pope. It in no way diminishes their veneration to express respectful disappointment and even disagreement with the Vatican.
I pray that future developments will prove wrong the concerns of so many Cuban Catholics on the island and in exile. Both the pope and President Bush have immense responsibilities before God and the Cuban people. It is my most sincere hope that they will not forget Cubans' aspirations for freedom, peace and prosperity.
- "the Catholic Leaders Of Cuba Need To Stand With Their People"
By Derek J. Bekebrede Published: Tuesday, April 24, 2012 Today, Cardinal Jaime L. Ortega, the head of the Catholic Church in Cuba, will speak privately with a group of undergraduates and publicly in the JFK Jr. Forum at the Institute of Politics. The...
- Pope Benedict Xvi: Itinerary For Cuba, 2012
Press release of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba with regard to the visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI, having been invited by Cuba’s President Raúl Castro and the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba, has approved...
- Have You Done Anything?
I don't know about you my FREEDOM loving brethren, but I am still reeling after the obvious slight by Cardinal "Sopranos" Bertone. El Cafe Cubano suggested that you refrain from donating for several weeks and slipping a note in the collection basket:...
- Can’t Put Lipstick On A Pig
Now matter how the media and apartheid dictatorship worshippers try to spin the retirement of the “reflective’ dictator, you can’t put lipstick on the transition(well actually raulita can wear lipstick) because it’s the same ole communist dictatorship....
-
Vatican Cardinal heading for Cuba Ziva at Blog for Cuba has a post concerning a Vatican Cardinal heading for Cuba this week. Now is the time to flood the Pope's e-mail and that of Cardinal Renato Martino: [email protected] Office of the Cardinal-Secretary...