Last minute communiqué from the Havana Archbishopric

Cardinal Jaime Ortega receives support

By Progreso Semanal staff

HAVANA – “For months we have observed that a plan has been gestated” to damage the person of Cardinal Ortega and the Catholic Church in Cuba, says an official release from Havana’s Archbishopric.

The communiqué, which is composed of three paragraphs and signed by the two auxiliary bishops and the four vicars of the archdiocese, also states that “the campaign intends to abort all efforts of understanding and dialogue” between Cubans.

The missive is the first reaction by the island’s ecclesiastic authorities, in this case the Havana archdiocese, before the criticisms and discrediting of the line being followed by, and of Cardinal Jaime Ortega himself.

It’s interesting to note that the communiqué comes after the meeting of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba (COCC), which was finalized hardly one week ago. COCC, where all 15 of Cuba’s bishops participated, ended when the subject of the church and the line of action that has been carried out was simply a media and blogosphere issue. But, so far, there has been no public pronouncement, an attitude that has added to the speculation of what support exists that backs the actual line in favor of opening a dialogue and reconciliation that he [Cardinal Ortega] has been sponsoring.

“I know they’ve been attacking the cardinal and what he has done in our favor, but the church is quiet,” answered Juan Albarate as he exited the Church of St. John de Letran in Vedado. “We should respond,” he added.

This opinion is not unique. An ex political prisoner, Oscar Espinosa Chepe, freed from the 2003 case and who opted to stay on the island maintaining his position as a government oppositionist, opined “that the work of uniting Cubans being done by the (Havana) archdiocese, serving as a bridge between different sectors of our society, is very favorable; such as the creation of the Felix Varela Center where many from different political tendencies participate and debate their ideas there…”

Signers of the communiqué affirm that the cardinal has always proceeded according to “the teaching of the church” and express their support for the archbishop.

Signatories are: Monsignor Alfredo Petit Vergel, Auxiliary Bishop, Monsignor Juan de Dios Hernandez, auxiliary bishop; Monsignor Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Garcia-Menocal, Episcopal vicar; Monsignor Ramon Suares Polcari, Episcopal vicar; Monsignor Rene Ruiz Reyes, Episcopal vicar; Monsignor Rodolfo Loiz Morales, secretary.