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October
9, 2006
VOL.
44, NO. 17Oakland,
CA
Church in Cuba
has no political role at present
WASHINGTON
(CNS) -- The Cuban Church’s role in national life after President
Fidel Castro relinquished power is not to be political but to accompany
the people wherever the future leads, said two Cuban Catholic leaders.
“I don’t think the people see the Church as a political player.
Nor has the Church presented itself as a political player,” said
Orlando Marquez Hidalgo, spokesman for the Cuban bishops’ conference.
Father Rene Ruiz Reyes, Havana archdiocesan delegate to the bishops’
National Commission for Priests, said that “the mission of the Church
is to accompany the people along the road” at a time when no one
in the Caribbean island country can predict the future.
Both Cubans were in Washington to meet with officials of the U.S. Conference
of Catholic Bishops.
Marquez said that the role of the Church now is to offer a helping hand
to Cubans and “it would be an error to see the Church as having
a political role.”
Father Ruiz said that Cubans were shocked all of a sudden to learn that
Castro was sick and in the hospital after having ruled the country uninterruptedly
for 47 years.
Nobody knows what will happen, said the priest. People are waiting to
see if Castro will make an appearance in December because that is when
he said he will publicly celebrate his 80th birthday, which took place
Aug. 13.
At the end of July Castro was operated on for internal bleeding and ceded
power to his brother, Raul Castro, while he recuperated.
But by the beginning of October no date had been set for Castro’s
return to power, sparking speculation a s to whether his health would
permit him to resume running the country.
“Time will tell if his brother (Raul) takes over,” said Father
Ruiz.
No matter what happens the Church will be ready to help the people spiritually
and “enlighten them through the Church’s social teaching,”
he said.
The most detailed public statement by a Church official since Castro’s
illness was in a Sept. 8 homily by Havana Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino.
He said the Church prays for domestic peace following the “new political
situation” caused by Castro’s ceding of power.
The cardinal added that the Church opposed foreign interference in Cuban
affairs and that Catholics would continue praying for people in Castro’s
jails.
The Sept. 8 Mass commemorated the 90th anniversary of Our Lady of Charity
of Cobre as Cuba’s patroness.
The Mass started after 2,000 people filed down several Havana streets
behind an image of Our Lady of Charity that Pope John Paul II had crowned
during his 1998 visit. Accompanied by a band, they sang, prayed and shouted
“vivas” to Mary.
