Bishops Agree to Cuban Communist Party Interference in Pope’s Religious Activities

Bishops Agree to Cuban Communist Party Interference in Pope's Religious
Activities / 14ymedio, Jorge Guillen Garcia
Posted on September 20, 2015

14ymedio, Jorge Guillen Garcia*, Candelaria, Artemis, 19 September 2015
— Once again Cuban Catholics suffer humiliation by the Government,
without the bishops doing much to stop it. After months of official
silence about the Pope's visit, this week we learned – from the bishops
– that they had to deliver the lists of participants in religious
activities ahead of time to the Cuban Communist Party (PCC).

Giving those lists to the PCC is the same as giving them to State
Security and the party officials have also decided to place some of
their members on each bus where the faithful will travel to the sites
where Francis will serve a Mass. We cannot understand why this is
happening and why these people have to fill the places that should be
allocated to other laity, because the capacity is limited.

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

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.

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.

_______________________________________________________

*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).

Source: Bishops Agree to Cuban Communist Party Interference in Pope's
Religious Activities / 14ymedio, Jorge Guillen Garcia | Translating Cuba
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http://translatingcuba.com/bishops-agree-to-cuban-communist-party-interference-in-popes-religious-activities-14ymedio-jorge-guillen-garcia/