Posted by Press Release on 18/9/2007, 10:35 am
Board Administrator
ACN News: 16th September 2007 – CUBA
New faces – New era
New bishops for Cuba prepare Church for change post-Castro
By John Pontifex
THE latest in a series of new bishops announced for Cuba prepares
the Church for change amid increasing uncertainty over President
Castro's health and the future of the communist regime.
Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need has learned that Fr
Domingo Oropesa is to be ordained Bishop of Cienfuegos, on Cuba's
southern coast, becoming the first Spanish priest appointed for the
island's hierarchy for more than 50 years.
News of the ceremony, which took place on Saturday, (15/09/07),
comes a few months after Fr Willy Pino was appointed Bishop of
Guantánamo in the south-east of the island.
Meantime, in the neighbouring diocese of Bayamo-Manzanillo, all
the Cuban bishops were present for the episcopal ordination of Fr Alvaro
Beyra Luarca.
The vacancy in Bayamo emerged after Bishop Dionisio Garcia was
elevated to Cuba's second see of Santiago de Cuba, after the retirement
of long-serving prelate Archbishop Pedro Meurice Estiu.
The appointments mean that four of the eleven dioceses in Cuba
have new bishops – a change expected to bring fresh dynamism and
direction for the Church at a time of increased uncertainty over
President Castro's health and the future of his 48-year regime.
No photographs of the Communist dictator were issued for his 81st
birthday last month, fuelling yet more rumours about health, with
speculation in some quarters that he is already dead.
Church experts have meanwhile stressed that three of the new
bishops – excluding Mgr Garcia – were formerly attached to the
Archdiocese of Camaguey, in the south-east, famous for its defiant
former Archbishop, Mgr Adolfo Rodriguez.
The archbishop, who died in 2003 after 40 years in Camaguey, is
seen as an excellent formator of priests, insisting on training abroad.
Mgr Beyra studied in Belgium, receiving a scholarship from Aid to
the Church in Need.
As a Spanish missionary from Toledo, Fr Oropesa has considerable
experience abroad. He has now spent many years attached to Camaguey diocese.
Meantime, ACN has received reports from Cuba of Mgr Beyra's
ordination ceremony late last month.
The cathedral was so packed, the crowds spilled out into the
square outside. Security was tight to ensure that gangways in the church
were kept clear and in the searing heat two people had to be taken
outside to receive medical treatment.
After the Eucharist, the new bishop spoke of his determination to
act in the name of each of the 820,000 members of his diocese – a mostly
rural community in south-east Cuba.
After the service, representatives of the priests, sisters and
lay people in the diocese offered presents to the new bishop, which
included a traditional-style Bayamo horse and carriage.
Cuba expert Javier Legorreta, who has travelled widely in the
island as an ACN projects chief in Latin America, said he was delighted
by Bishop Beyra's appointment and that of the other bishops.
He said: "The new bishops will enable the Church to tackle the
changes that have been taking place with the decline in Fidel Castro's
health.
"It means fresh, new blood for a new era in the Church's life and
ministry.
For ACN, Cuba is a priority for aid in Latin America and last
year the charity gave more than $1.1 million to help the Church there.
Official statistics put the number of Catholics in Cuba at about
– or just below – 50 percent.
Although many Cubans describe themselves as Catholic, the number
practising is comparatively small.
Editor's Notes:
Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports
the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral
need. ACN is a Catholic charity – helping to bring Christ to the world
through prayer, information and action.
Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John
Paul II named "An Outstanding Apostle of Charity", the organisation is
now at work in about 145 countries throughout the world.
The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including
providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of
church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train
seminarians. Since the initiative's launch in 1979, 45 million Aid to
the Church in Need Child's Bibles have been distributed worldwide.
For more information, please contact the Sydney office of ACN on
(02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the
Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web: www.aidtochurch.org
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