A Cuban bishop has called for dialogue and action to help the people amid widespread desperation and a social crisis that recently prompted the island’s bishops to cancel a planned visit to Rome to meet the Pope. Source: Crux.
“This is the moment to tell the world: do not close your eyes, and much less your heart, to the suffering of the Cuban people,” Bishop Arturo González Amador said.
“This is not the time. It is not the time to condemn. It is not the time. It is the time for dialogue, and a dialogue that seeks effective solutions.”
Head of the Cuban Diocese of Santa Clara and president of the national bishops’ conference, Bishop González Amador, spoke after the bishops’ recent decision to cancel their ad limina visit – a visit of the entire episcopal conference to Rome that typically happens every five years and allows bishops to meet with the Pope and members of various Vatican departments.
In a February 12 communique, the bishops announced that they had asked Pope Leo XIV to postpone their February 16-20 visit due to “the worsening socio-economic situation of the country, which is generating so much insecurity and instability”.
Pope Leo had previously offered prayers for Cuba during his February 1 Angelus address following rising tensions between the island and the United States Government, which maintains a strict embargo on Cuba, referring to a lengthy letter the Cuban bishops had published calling for change and for the development of the country amid a widespread social crisis.
In his appeal, the Pope issued an appeal inviting “all responsible parties to promote a sincere and effective dialogue, in order to avoid violence and every action that could increase the suffering of the dear Cuban people”.
Bishop González Amador said the Pope’s message was “truly appreciated” by the Cuban people, who lack basic food, medicines, infrastructure, and general social development, in large part due to the US’s 60-year embargo.
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Cuban bishop calls for dialogue amid protracted national crisis (By Elise Ann Allen, Crux)
