Saturday, March 24, 2012

Cooperation to relieve the embargo against changes in religious freedom

Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Cuba after the country’s authorities had taken some positive steps regarding religious freedom and the involvement of Catholics in public life. 

The dialogue between the bishops and Raúl Castro is direct, the Church begins to have some access to the media up until now monopolized by the regime, public religious ceremonies and pilgrimages have been authorized. 

The construction of a seminary in Havana and the development of the cultural centre “Felix Varela” have been extremely positive signs. 

 Even though Castro’s opposition fears the instrumentalization of the pope’s visit and in the last few hours has decided to stage a “sit-in” of some Catholic churches (initiative criticized by the archbishop in Havana), the Holy See intends to gamble everything in order to favour Cuba’s transition towards democracy.

There are still many issues to solve in the relationship between government and Church. 

There still are anachronistic institutions like the Bureau for Religious Affairs of the Communist Party's Central Committee led by Caridad Diego which, following the tradition of many Marxist countries tries to oversee and control the activity of the Church. 

The Vatican hopes Raúl Castro will soon change the situation by incorporating the Bureau in the state system and changing its role by taking it away from the Party.

Another sore point relates to the Church’s freedom to publish newspapers and magazines and the request to have more access to the national media. 

The Catholics also greatly care for the possibility of managing schools and education bodies, thing that is still not allowed. In the Vatican certain forms of ideological indoctrination described in Marxist–Leninist manuals and used in Cuban state schools are thought of as "obsolete".

In the Caribbean island the signs of secularization are growing and the Church is worried about the resilience of the family as an institution and for the protection of marriage and life in the face of what has been defined as society’s “decay”. 

Finally the Holy See supports the Cuban Church’s request to have chaplains available in the country’s prisons, the possibility of being able to intercede for political prisoners might increase this way. 

In the Vatican, people are working hard so that at the end of the celebration, the Pope may be allowed to meet the “Damas de Blanco”(mothers and wives of political prisoners) without causing a sensation.

In order to support these causes, which could be summarized under the umbrella of the desire for more freedom at all levels, the Holy See will repeat its opposition to the American embargo against Cuba. 

The consequences of the embargo hit people who were already in a difficult situation. 

More specifically, the Vatican diplomatic corps could offer to mediate to improve Cuba’s relationship with the U.S. and especially with the European Union. 

A helping hand is being offered IN the hope that improvements will continue. 

This is the historical background of the inevitable photo that will capture Pope Benedict XVI with the battered, but never beaten “general” Fidel.