Pastoral plan has to deal with scarcity of priests
3-May-2001 -- ZENIT.org News Agency.
MIAMI, Florida, (Zenit.org).- A visiting Cuban bishop confirmed that
Church-state relations are deteriorating in the island nation.
"There has been a certain regress, a freeze with the Office of
Religious Affairs, a wintering of relations, at least with the Catholic Church,"
said Archbishop Adolfo Rodríguez of Camagüey, in statements
published in La Voz Católica, the Spanish monthly of the Miami
Archdiocese.
Havana wants the Church to agree to the executive´s plan regarding
political issues, "dynamics that are not those of the Church," the
head of the Cuban bishops´ conference stressed.
The Cuban Church needs to clarify with the government the essence of its
nature, and what the government can, and cannot, expect from it, he said.
"We would like relations with religious institutions to be based on the
principles of a modern, secular state, without privileges for the Church, but
also without discrimination against it," the archbishop said.
He noted that in Cuba, "Marxist and socialist symbols can be sold as
flags, but a religious symbol cannot be sold, and the reason given is that ´it
is a secular state.´" Yet, he said, this is not how a modern, secular
state conducts itself.
The Cuban bishops want the country to "foster the evolution of society
through genuine participation of the people," the archbishop said. If "participation
is not permitted," he said, "the country cannot develop."
Despite their difficulties, the bishops are looking to implement a Global
Pastoral Plan, which has objectives up to 2005.
"Nowhere in the world can a pastoral [endeavor] be structured solely
around priests, and less so in a Church with very many lay people and very few
priests," the archbishop said, referring to Cuba. In his Diocese of Camagüey
there are 24 priests and 38 nuns. "The accent is on the laity and,
specifically, on the youth," he said.
The bishops´ pastoral plan is inspired along the fundamental lines of
John Paul II´s pronouncements on Cuba, and his exhortation "Church in
America." It is concerned with "Meeting the living Christ, by
promoting conversion, communion and solidarity." | 