Havana, Cuba, Apr 21, 2010 / 12:58 pm
The leader of the Catholic Church in Cuba, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, released an interview on Monday which not only affirmed the autonomous nature of the Catholic Church in Cuba but also called for the immediate action in addressing Cuba’s current economic crisis.
Cardinal Ortega’s interview appeared in “Palabra Nueva” or “New Word,” the official magazine of the Catholic Church in Cuba. The discussion began with commentary surrounding a recent meeting between leaders of various religious organizations and the Office of Religious Affairs of the Cuban government. Members of the Catholic Church were invited to the meeting but declined to attend because the Church’s place in society is not to seek “strategic alliances” with the government, stated Cardinal Ortega.
Additionally, “I think the only thing that we have in common with these animist or associative religious groups is that we are all attended to by the same office of Religious Affairs,” he declared.
The Archbishop of Havana went on to say that “the action of the Church within society pertains to the order of rights and the right to religious freedom is recognized clearly within the Constitution effective in Cuba. It is under the frame of this Constitution that the Church, according to her own identity and methodology, develops her mission in Cuba of working for the common good.”