Posted : Wed, 05 Mar 2008 15:02:06 GMT
Author : DPA
Category : Religion (General)
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Munich - Cuba has invited the Catholic Church to open a new monastery on
the island and a German Benedictine order said Wednesday it would send
four monks to establish a "spiritual centre."The church has been
officially banned in the past from building new churches on the
communist island.
The four monks will be provided by the Missionary Benedictines, also
known as the Ottilien Congregation, an order of monks with its world
headquarters at Landsberg am Lech, west of Munich.
The new site will be in the archdiocese of Havana, the order's spokesman
said.
The foundation had been requested by the archbishop, Cardinal Jaime
Lucas Ortega y Alamino, and had been expressly approved by Fidel Castro
before his retirement last month as Cuban leader.
The spokesman said Cuban authorities had been helpful in the
preparations to set up the monastery, which was likely to open this year.
One of the monks would come from the headquarters abbey, St Odilia at
Landsberg, where 110 men practise manual trades as part of their
religious vows. The order is a splinter from the Benedictines, the
Catholic Church's oldest religious order.
It was understood that Castro had insisted that one of the four monks
with farm experience be skilled in cheese-making. The "Maximo Lider" as
he is known in Cuba is said to be fond of cheese.
The spokesman said Cardinal Ortega hoped the Benedictines would give the
church in Cuba "fresh spiritual impetus."
The church has been banned for decades from the Cuban media, but last
month Cuban state-controlled television broadcast live a mass celebrated
in Havana's cathedral square by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the visiting
Vatican secretary of state.
Bertone visited Cuba February 20-26 to commemorate the 10th anniversary
of the late Pope John Paul's trip to the island.
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