Cuba Allowing 2 Bishops to Broadcast

Code: ZE06041002

Date: 2006-04-10

Cuba Allowing 2 Bishops to Broadcast

Radio Messages, in Time for Holy Week

KOENIGSTEIN, Germany, APRIL 10, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Cuban authorities
allowed two bishops to broadcast Holy Week messages on the radio. For
one of the dioceses, it was a "first" under Fidel Castro.

The developments were confirmed by Bishop Emilio Aranguren of Holguin,
in a message addressed to the international charity Aid to the Church in
Need.

According to the prelate, the Office of Religious Affairs, affiliated
with the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, permitted him
and Bishop Dionisio García Ibáñez of Bayamo-Manzanillo, to broadcast
radio messages for the start of Holy Week in their respective dioceses.

In Holguin, it was the first time in 46 years that this took place. When
Bishop Aranguren, 55, informed his faithful at the end of Mass last
Saturday, the congregation gave a standing ovation.

Bishop Aranguren explained that when he visits "the sick in their homes,
I realize the large majority of them select foreign radio stations in
order to hear religious messages. … They need it for their faith."

"For this reason," he continued, "I have asked the authorities to let me
address the sick in order to encourage them to celebrate the great
events in the life of Jesus Christ: his passion, death and resurrection.
God willing, may I do that every week."

In his 12-minute radio address, broadcast on Palm Sunday, the bishop
also addressed the elderly, telling them: "I want to bring you a message
of consolation, strength and hope. I know that you need this, just like
all of us.

"When you hold a crucifix in your hands or look at Jesus Christ on the
cross, I invite you to renew your trust in him. You will find a new
disposition, a spiritual aptitude to continue to carry your cross with
confidence, courage, dignity and hope."

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