Word: vaticans
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...Vatican rule: candidates for sainthood wait five years beyond their deaths before the Catholic Church begins its investigation of their "heroic virtue," the first step toward canonization. Only two figures in recent history have received a fast-track exemption: Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II, both of them superstars in the Catholic and wider popular firmament. So, when the Vatican recently added Sister Lucia dos Santos, who died in 2005 at age 97, to this list, many wondered why she had been put in that esteemed company...
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...
Bertone, the Vatican's equivalent of a prime minister, will try to use the fortuitously scheduled visit to give a boost to local Catholic leaders and position the Church as a bridge for bringing political and economic freedom to Cuba. The initial priority is reinforcing Catholic religious life on the island. Says one Vatican diplomat who 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...
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...