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.c The Associated Press
By JOHN RICE
HAVANA (AP) -
Pope John Paul II gave Cuba's church an ambitious mission: to expand its role in
Cuban society through Catholic education, greater access to mass media, more
priests and more charity work. Churchmen said Monday they were optimistic they
can fulfill at least some of those goals.
The pope flew out of Cuba on Sunday with strong calls for "greater
liberty and pluralism'' on the communist island, but his five-day visit also
seemed to establish an unprecedented level of cooperation with Fidel Castro's
government.
"I believe the balance was very positive and hope that the word of the
pope will help a peaceful transformation of current structures toward forms of
greater liberty, greater participation,'' Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican
secretary of state, told Vatican Radio on return to Italy.
It was not clear if the pontiff won specific commitments from Cuba; indeed,
those were not the main point of his pastoral visit to a country that abandoned
official atheism only in 1992.
"The visit was never conditioned'' on solving specific church
complaints, Cuban church spokesman Orlando Marquez said.
Yet the pontiff laid out a broad series of goals during his visit.
Some seem unlikely: Cuban officials say they want to keep public education a
state monopoly and will probably not honor the papal request to reopen Catholic
schools. But they indicated they might even favor expanded church efforts at
catechism and moral education.
Other goals could see partial success. The pope urged Castro to release
political prisoners. The government made no comment, but has often released some
prisoners following visits by other prominent visitors.
Yet other requests will be subject to negotiations - and occasional
conflicts - with a government that seems to have opened a more receptive ear to
churches. "These things can be discussed,'' Culture Minister Abel Prieto, a
member of the Communist Party's elite Political Bureau, said during the trip.
The pope urged his bishops to "expand that dialogue,'' but insisted
that in demanding greater liberty the church "is not asking for a gift''
that depends on "the will of the authorities,'' because religious freedom
is "an inalienable human right.''
In meetings Sunday, the pope told Catholic clergy and laypeople what the
church should do with that freedom in order to "occupy her rightful place
in the midst of the people'' - not merely preach behind closed doors.
He urged his bishops to defend human rights, a sensitive topic in Cuba, and
attack abortion, which is widely practiced here.
John Paul also called for more access to radio, press and television, which
are dominated by the state. Existing Catholic publications are not censored, but
have trouble obtaining permission to buy paper and equipment.
Ahead of the papal visit, the government gave permission for several dozen
new foreign priests and nuns. The pope, however, said "we ardently hope''
the arrival of more will be eased for an island with fewer than 300 priests for
11 million people.
Catholic charities such as Caritas have grown rapidly, but sometimes face
problems importing goods and equipment. "God willing, may it be made easier
for you to receive and distribute the resources which so many sister churches
want to share with you,'' John Paul said.
He also urged Catholics to expand efforts in fields that have sometimes
brought them into conflict with officials: educating "in the areas of
culture, economics, politics and the human person.''
But he may already have achieved the greatest goal of his visit to an island
where three decades of official atheism left many Cubans strangers to the
message of the church.
Most of his appearances and all of his Masses were broadcast live on state
television and hundreds of thousands of Cubans turned out for his Masses - many
of them more curious than committed.
As crews worked in the rain Monday to dismantle the lofty papal altar in
Havana's Plaza of the Revolution, tourists took turns posing for pictures in the
papal chair and schoolchildren filed into a nearby photo exhibit of Castro's
November 1996 meeting with the pope in Rome.
"I went to see him when he arrived and I watched Sunday's Mass on TV,''
said Ana Maria Lastre, 12. Asked if she goes to church, she answered, "No,
I don't go to Mass, but now I might be more interested to see what Mass is all
about.''
AP-NY-01-26-98 1606EST |