The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, spoke Monday at a press conference at Cuba’s foreign ministry. From a partial transcript published in Granma, here is his response to a question about the Vatican’s view of the U.S. embargo and how the Vatican can work to have it lifted. In Spanish, he used the word bloqueo.
“…the Holy See confirms exactly the words of John Paul II. The embargo is ethically unacceptable, it is an oppression for the Cuban people. It is not the means to help the Cuban people to claim their dignity, their independence; it is a violation of the independence of the people. This is the truth. The Vatican confirms this judgment and makes attempts to impel the United States to eliminate this embargo. I myself have asked that the government of the United States permit the reunification of relatives in Cuba. It is a humanitarian measure, the most reasonable one that one could think and that can be done. We will make our efforts in this direction as representatives of the Pope and the Holy See.”
5 comments:
Cardinal Bertone's comments would be more credible if he was demanding the same thing from the Cuban Govt. when it comes to family reunion. One cannot put the blame on distancing the family only of the US policies of the last 4 years. Castro was separating families long before these counterprodcutive measures were implemented by G.W. Bush. But no one seems to remember that now. Will Cardinal Bertone ring up Cuabn musician and Grammy winner Paquito D'Rivera and ask him why it took 10 years for his family to leave Cuba after he decided to stay out of the country in the 1980's.? The denial for an exit visa for his children came from Cuba's Govt.as punishment for his defection, not from the US authorities.
Mr. D'Rivera was not the only one to have suffered from this type of intrasigence and anti-family behaviour on the part of the Cuban authorities. The case of Dr. Hilda Molina also comes readily to mind. In spite of the fact that even Argentina's President Kirchner has appealed to Castro himself in several diplomatic notes, he has refused an exit visa for her and her mother to visit her grandkids in Argentina. Unfortunately, that little item was overlooked by the good Cardinal in his speech. I guess interfering with family reunions in the good Cardinal's opinion, is only the fault of the US. Govt. and not Cuba's. The Catholic Church is so discredited in Cuba, is no wonder the Protestants and Baptits are making such deep inroads into their traditional church attendance. When the State Security archives are opened someday like they were in Poland, we will discover a lot of secrets about these Archbishops no one thought possible. And in Poland the Church was even more defiant and active than in Cuba, so I can't wait for these secrets to come to light. As in Poland, I am sure there are many skeletons buried deep in these Catholic closets.
I also remember the Catholic Church blessing and praying at the presidential Palace with the dictator Batista in the late days of March 1957 just a few days after he survived an attack on the Palace by the revolutionaries members of the Revolutionary Directorate. Then, they were present also blessing and praying for the dictator of turn Batista, for having survived an assasination attempt. Today they are praising the new dictators from the opposite camp and bestowing their graces and blessings on the communist regime. I guess the Church wants to have their cake and eat it too. As long as they can survive, they do not care what masters they serve. Whether on the left or right, it does not matter as long as they can have their way and be in good graces with whomever happens to be holdiog the reins of power at the time. And what about the Cuban people? Very well thank you. They will continue to come to our churches because they have a bad memory and forget very soon our affronts to their dignity and well being.
Well Cardinal Bertone, you may find out different in a future Cuba. Contrary to your beliefs, we have a very good memory and we will not forget your abyeccion and servilism, just so you can survive.
noticia irrelevante
there is no such thing such as bloqueo ..600 million purchased by cuba in 2007..
Si ellos tuvieran moral y decencia no le compraran al enemigo ideologico ni un solo centavo
I applaud the cardinal.
who's that..Fidel?
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