Press release – 13 occupants removed from church in Havana

During the night of Thursday, 15 March, after more than 48 hours of uninterrupted and unauthorized permanence inside the Diocesan Sanctuary and Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Charity in Havana, the 13 occupants were removed from that sacred place.

During the early hours of their permanence in the temple, during one of the dialogues held with the occupants, the Archdiocese’s chancellor, Msgr. Ramón Suárez Polcari, relayed to them a promise from Cardinal Jaime Ortega that they would be taken to their homes under the Church’s protection and that nothing would be done against their safety, because that had been the Cardinal’s request to the proper authorities. The occupants then responded that they did not mistrust Cardinal Ortega but did mistrust the word given to him by the nation’s authorities. However, they stated that if those same authorities came to make that promise in person they would believe it.

Nevertheless, the Church’s unilateral efforts to put an end to this situation continued. Again on the night of Wednesday 14 March, the Archdiocese’s chancellor went to the temple and, in the company of Father Roberto Betancourt, the Sanctuary’s rector, repeated the invitation to leave voluntarily. There was also an exhortation from the Catholic faithful who were not able to hear Mass on Wednesday and Thursday. Other invitations to put an end to the occupation were repeated this morning and this afternoon. In all cases, the group’s response was negative.

For this reason, by use of the authority and faculty that belong to him, Cardinal Jaime Ortega turned to the proper authorities and asked them to invite the occupants to leave the Sanctuary and Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Charity in Havana. He also took into account the occupants’ proposal that they be visited directly by the authorities to receive a guarantee of their safety. This request by Cardinal Ortega to the authorities reiterated that the integrity of these persons should be safeguarded.

The action of putting an end to the occupation began at 9 p.m. local time and lasted less than 10 minutes. The 13 occupants were invited to leave the temple and did not offer resistance. The agents who executed the operation had assured the Church that they would not carry weapons, that they would initially take the 13 persons to a police station, and that afterward would take them to their homes. They also made assurances that [the 13] would not be tried for this deed.

Thus ends a crisis that should never had begun. The Church trusts that similar deeds will not be repeated and that the harmony we all hope for can really be achieved.

Orlando Márquez Hidalgo

Press Office of the Havana Archbishopric

Havana, 15 March 2012