Havana/The bishop of Holguín Emilio Aranguren, confirmed this Monday on the Radio Ángulo station that the Catholic bishops of Cuba will meet with Pope Leo XIV for the first time, within the framework of their next trip to Rome, between February 16 and 20. This is the traditional visit Ad Limina Apostolorumthe meeting that the prelates hold every five years at the Vatican, during which they present a report on the situation of their dioceses and make a pilgrimage to the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul, as established by the Code of Canon Law.
However, the meeting arouses special expectation, at a time when the highest pontiff has expressed himself about the increase in tensions between Cuba and the United States. From St. Peter’s Square, the Pope urged “all those responsible to promote sincere and effective dialogue, to avoid violence and any action that could increase the suffering of the Cuban people.” Likewise, he invoked the Virgin of Charity of Cobre to protect the citizens of the Island.
A day earlier, in turn, the Cuban Episcopal Conference warned in a statement that in the last six months, “the situation has worsened and anguish and hopelessness have worsened” in the country. Through a message on their website, the Cuban bishops indicated that, given the current panorama, the changes “are increasingly urgent.”
Both circumstances invite us to think that the Church can once again play a mediating role between Havana and Washington.
Both circumstances invite us to think that the Church can once again play a mediating role between Havana and Washington, as has recently happened with the Hurricane Melissa aid distribution or the release of political prisoners in 2025.
The last visit Ad Limina of the Cuban bishops It was done in 2017under the pontificate of Francis. At that time, Cuba was experiencing a diplomatic rapprochement with the United States that did not lead to significant structural changes.
Cuban bishops, on the other hand, do not usually go beyond an established framework when criticizing the Government, but the same does not happen with many Catholic priests, who have not only raised their voices but have suffered the consequences for it. Last December, the mexican priest José Ramírez, of the Congregation of the Mission, left the Island after ringing the bells of the parish of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal during a protest against blackouts. Ramírez coordinated social programs in his parish, including visits to the elderly, home care for the sick, and a free school for children with Down syndrome.
Last Sunday Mike Hammer, head of the United States mission in Cuba, met in Trinidad, Sancti Espíritus, with the priest José Conrado Rodríguezone of the most critical voices of the Catholic Church in the country. Upon leaving the meeting, the diplomat ran into a group of people probably belonging to the party who shouted “all kinds of obscenities” at him in his own words. Just before that visit, he had suffered another act of repudiation in Camagüey.
