Word: cubans
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There have long been mutual advantages to a cordial relationship between Vatican and Cuban officials. For the most part, the Church has been able to attend to its flock and maintain its unique status in Cuban society. The regime has always appreciated the Vatican's denunciations of the American blockade as a human rights violation. There is also fundamental agreement in both Cuban and Catholic doctrine about caring for the weak and underprivileged. Still, the relationship has its limits amidst the government control of information and silencing of opposition movements, which have often included Catholic intellectuals and clergy. The island...
Vatican diplomacy is indeed a delicate endeavor, and freedom is a double-edged sword. If the Church is granted the role of mediator in the phase-out of the command economy and state-controlled media, it would apparently have much to gain in securing the good will of Cubans. Still, liberalizing Cuban society could come with troubling side effects for the Catholic hierarchy. A free economic market could bring the kind of unbridled capitalism that both John Paul and Benedict have denounced in the West, while complete religious freedom would open the door in Cuba to the previously shut...
...October, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone penciled in his calendar what promised to be an important six-day trip to Cuba. That promise has suddenly multiplied, with the Catholic Church's No. 2 official set to arrive in Havana on Wednesday night, just a day after Cuban leader Fidel Castro announced the end to his 49 years in power. It is perfect timing for the Vatican, which is aiming to play a central role in the island nation's transition into what many hope will be a post-communist future...
...monitors the situation in Cuba: "Steps forward have been taken, but the situation remains difficult. There needs to be new churches built on the island... [and] complete religious freedom." Ultimately, though, Vatican leaders are aiming even higher. As the only institution besides the state with a significant presence in Cuban daily life, the Church is uniquely positioned to play the role of mediator when and if Castro's successors begin to open up society and reach out to dissidents...
Roman Catholicism has never ceased to be a presence on the island nation despite the official atheist doctrine of the Marxist regime. Churches were never shuttered and diplomatic relations with the Vatican never interrupted, even as Cuban authorities closed Catholic schools and silenced Catholic dissidents. John Paul II's visit to Cuba in 1998, which Castro used to demonstrate his supposed openness, is credited with renewing religious sentiment across the island. Havana officials say today that the country now counts 520 Catholic parish churches, two seminaries, 1,000 priests and 1,500 Catholic missionaries. Bertone, who was invited by both...