Cuba expels priest for defending right to life
22-May-2000 -- ZENIT News Agency.
Father Miguel Jorda Denounces Degradation of Values in Island
MADRID, (ZENIT.org).- Cuban authorities have expelled a priest for opposing abortion. In statements to the magazine "Missionaries of the Third Millennium" of the Spanish Pontifical Missionary Works, Fr. Miguel Jorda stated that he was expelled from the country, "among other
reasons, for defending unborn life. I distributed leaflets all over my parish with verses defending life and denouncing the present situation in Cuba, which, with 12 million inhabitants, registers 130,000 abortions a year recognized by the government. One of these verses was studied very closely by
the Party. It read: 'In this Cuban country/of such great wonders/every day thousands/of human beings are killed./ Over the last 30 years/ there have been more than 3 million/ and a thousand reasons are given/ to commit this crime,/ hopefully these little verses/ will move hearts.' And were they
moved! To the point that they threw me out."
According to Fr. Jorda, the high number of abortions is due to "the Cuban reality." And he explained: "Many people travel to Cuba for tourism and sexual commerce which, at present, is one of the principal sources of foreign exchange for the country. This causes an exorbitant
number of abortions. The members of the National Health Service itself go to the schools and encourage pregnant girls to undergo abortions without further ado. Without telling them about the trauma it causes, without discussing the moral and ethical point of view. Presenting it as if it were the
normal way. Especially, so that the cycle will repeat itself: another amorous escapade, another pregnancy, another abortion..."
Given this situation, the priest tried to denounce it in the parish bulletin. "Because of that, the government made my life impossible. They put megaphones with strident music at the doors of my parish. Under such conditions, it was impossible to baptize or pray. One day, I took another
megaphone and publicly denounced that human rights were trampled in Cuba even before birth. That was the spark that resulted in my expulsion. However, the people have the message and know abortion is evil."
The right to life is not the only right violated in Cuba, according to the priest. "The right to association is broken. The youth grow up without any ideals. I am speaking concretely of my parish, which is an island in an ocean and had been without a priest for 40 years. Youth there have no
way out, no hope. They spend their lives drinking, having sex... Youths do not work, they lack nourishment, have bad health. To the world, Cuba projects an image of being in the lead in matters of health. That is in Havana, where the best doctors are, and there are medicines, but where I was, people
called in at the parish constantly to ask for an aspirin, there was no needle to take blood... The doctors asked why they should prescribe when there is nothing. Therefore, many fundamental rights are violated."
In face of this situation, the Church is doing everything it possibly can. It distributes medicines sent by the U.S. and Europe, which are not given to the government because they know it will shamelessly sell them. This is why they are given to the Church. "Because of this, the Episcopate
has become a pharmacy where people form a line. This matter should be handled differently but, as this is not the case, at this time the Church has assumed this task. Moreover, it silently supports all that implies respect for persons and civic rights. But its work is very limited. Bishop Mauricio,
for example, has called attention to this several times. He denounced the situation of the country to the Pope and because of this, they have tried to denigrate him in public. The spaces of liberty that one hoped were gained with the Pope's visit have remained empty," the priest lamented.
Cuban catholic press grows
22-May-2000 -- ZENIT News Agency
At Present Church has 30 Small Publications
MIAMI, (ZENIT.org).- In the latest issue of "The Catholic Voice," a Spanish newspaper of the Miami Archdiocese, director Araceli M. Cantero said that, in spite of limitations, Catholic publications play a significant role in Cuban society.
Cantero said there are some 30 Catholic publications in circulation. As opposed to those in existence before the Revolution, which were produced by organizations or groups, the current ones were started by the dioceses.
All dioceses have one or more pastoral or cultural magazines. There are also bulletins and a variety of pamphlets and photocopies. The publications vary from monthlies to quarterlies and, in some cases, biannuals. Circulation oscillates between several hundred to several thousand. The magazine
with the greatest circulation is "The New Word," of Havana's Archdiocese, with more than 10,000 copies.
Cantero has traveled several times to the Island, gathering data on the Church's pastoral life. She has also taken part in meetings with persons responsible for Catholic publications in Cuba. In her opinion, journalism is hard for her Cuban colleagues because of the lack of means and
difficulties of internal communication. Her publications inform and comment on pastoral life and on various dimensions of faith and civil society in Cuba.
In general, Cantero said that "the publications are produced within a conciliatory vein that attempts to strengthen Catholics' identity without deteriorating relations between the Church and State." But in some magazine articles there are more prophetic and intrepid comments on civil
society, based on the Pope's or Cuban bishops' pronouncements.
Significantly, Cantero concluded by saying that almost all these magazines appeared in Cuba in the decade of the 90s, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union and prior to John Paul II's visit to the Island. |