Rome, Italy, Jul 12, 2010 / 10:27 am
Holy See spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi reflected on the recent "good news" from Cuba during this week's "Octava dies" editorial on Vatican Television. He confirmed the Holy See's support for the Cuban Church and spoke of the "important progress" that has been made towards John Paul II's vision of open relations between the Caribbean nation and the world.
Fr. Lombardi said that the liberation of 52 political prisoners and the end of journalist Guillermo Fariñas' hunger strike are "good news" and "significant signs that we hope might indicate stable progress towards that climate of renewed social and political coexistence that we all wish for the Cuban nation."
The announcement of the release of the prisoners, jailed in March of 2003, came in a statement from the Archbishop of Havana's office on July 7 following talks between Raul Castro, Cardinal Archbishop of Havana Jaime Ortega Alamino and Spain's foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.
In the days following the original announcement, the same office released the names of 17 prisoners who "have accepted the proposal to leave prison and move to Spain" and would be released "soon." Six other prisoners are also set to be transferred to provincial prisons closer to their families.