The Archbishop Of Santiago de Cuba Says In The Vatican That The Island “Is Waiting For Changes”

The Archbishop Of Santiago de Cuba Says In The Vatican That The Island
"Is Waiting For Changes"

14ymedio, Havana, 5 May 2017 — "Cuba is waiting for changes," said
Archbishop Dionisio García Ibáñez Friday on Radio Vatican; he has also
said that "the Cuban people can live in better spiritual and material
conditions."

The statements of García Ibáñez, collected in Spanish by ACI Prensa,
came after Pope Francisco received a delegation of Cuban prelates in the
Apostolic Palace of the Vatican, a meeting that was part of a broader
visit to the Holy See Headquarters that began on April 25 and ends Friday.

According to ACI Prensa, "the presence of the Cuban prelates in the
Vatican aroused great expectations, bearing in mind the importance that
different pontiffs have contributed to relations with the Caribbean island."

The press agency recalls that John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis
have traveled to Cuba in 1998, 2012 and 2015, respectively.

Regarding religious freedom on the island, García Ibáñez stated that
"there is an opening in the sense that there is a greater understanding
of religion, and the people can express their faith."

"We are working with the state because after 50 years in which the
population has grown we can have the spaces for worship that we need,"
said the archbishop, who also expressed his hope that the process will
continue.

However, he has pointed out that "there are no parish houses with their
pastoral structures, but nevertheless the Church lives."

The meeting this Thursday was also attended by the archbishop emeritus
of Havana, Jaime Ortega Alamino, the current archbishop of the island's
capital, Juan de la Caridad García Rodríguez and the president of the
Cuban Episcopal Conference and archbishop of Camagüey, Wilfredo Pino
Estévez.

The trip of the Cuban ecclesiastics had as itsm ain objective the Ad
Límina Apostolorum ('to the threshold of the Apostles') visit to the
tomb of the apostles Peter and Paul.

During their visit to the Vatican, the prelates wrote an epistle
addressed to the faithful of the island, in which they explained that
the visit "is a clear and public manifestation of the communion between
all the bishops of the world and the bishop of Rome, and an effective
means to reaffirm that communion."

Source: The Archbishop Of Santiago de Cuba Says In The Vatican That The
Island "Is Waiting For Changes" – Translating Cuba -
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