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Cuban
Prison Bans the Bible
Zenit
- The World Seen From Rome. September 26, 2003.
HAVANA, SEPT. 26, 2003 (Zenit.org).-
Prison authorities in Camaguey, Cuba, have banned
the Bible from inmates' cells, according to Aid
to the Church in Need.
"Nine political prisoners, several of whom
are journalists, used to read texts of the Bible
aloud from their cells so that other prisoners
around could listen," ACN sources added.
"It was an original way to study the Bible
and get spiritual support to these prisoners who
are very badly treated," according to the
international charity.
ACN sends Bibles to the Catholic Church in Cuba,
which are distributed through parishes and also
to the prisoners through the Camaguey Archdiocese.
Few Bibles, however, are allowed into the prisons.
ACN recently sent 32,000 Bibles to Cuba, including
2,000 to Camaguey. The Catholic Church is not
allowed to print books in the island.
One of the prisoners involved with the Bible
study group is the journalist Ricardo González
Alonso, sentenced to 20 years because he was the
editor of the magazine De Cuba. In the Caribbean
Island, private publications are forbidden. In
the last five years some 30 Cuban journalists
have been sentenced to long years in prison for
publishing privately, and another 60 were forced
into exile for the same reason.
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