Pope Francis received today in audience a delegation from the Cuban Catholic Church, headed by Cardinal Juan de la Caridad García Rodríguez, archbishop of San Cristóbal de La Habana, the Vatican reported.
The group that met with the pontiff also included Emilio Aranguren Echeverría, bishop of Holguín and president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba, as well as his vice president and bishop of Santa Clara, Marcelo Arturo González Amador, the Holy See said in its daily bulletin, in which he did not provide further details about the meeting.
Also present at the audience were Juan de Dios Hernández Ruiz, bishop of Pinar del Río and general secretary of the episcopal conference; Manuel Hilario de Céspedes García-Menocal, Bishop Emeritus of Matanzas, and Dionisio Guillermo García Ibáñez, Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba.
Recently, the bishops fully opposed the new Family Code and urged Catholics on the Island not to vote yes in the referendum
The visit of the prelates takes place in an extremely delicate context in the relations between the Cuban Government and the Catholic Church. The link deteriorated after the 11J protests, when the leaders issued several statements calling for an end to the violence. In addition, several priests and nuns openly condemned the regime’s repression and, since then, have been harassed and in many cases summoned by State Security.
Recently, the bishops fully opposed the new Family Code and urged Catholics on the Island not to vote yes in the referendum held on September 25. Another factor that could hinder dialogue between the Pope and the Cuban bishops is the pontiff’s moderate position regarding the Cuban government.
The Pope has never condemned the regime in Havana and declared, in a recent interview, who had a “human relationship” with Raúl Castro. The Cuban bishops themselves have been accused of passivity in the face of the arrest of hundreds of demonstrators and police violence in the protests of recent months.
After the meeting with the Cuban delegation, Francis received Professor Rodrigo Guerra López, Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. Pope Francis visited the island in September 2015, while in 2016 he met with Russian Patriarch Kiril I in a Havana airport lounge, where they both signed a joint declaration.
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