On the pope's trip to Cuba... What would Jesus have done?
BY VANESSA LOPEZ
lvlopez@miami.edu
It is a simple question that Catholics are taught to ask themselves as
children: What would Jesus do?
Perhaps no better metric exists by which to measure the actions of the
current Vicar of Jesus Christ — Pope Benedict XVI. The Cuban-American
community spent the past month anxiously awaiting Pope Benedict XVI's
arrival in Cuba. Would He meet with Las Damas de Blanco, the Ladies in
White, one of the Catholic Church's most faithful groups on the Island?
Would he speak to the Cuban people's need for freedom and the Cuban
government's many abuses?
Would he be the breath of fresh air for a downtrodden, desperate, and
anguished population?
Would he defend the oppressed from their oppressors or would he simply
try to pragmatically "create space" for the Catholic Church?
As a Catholic and a Cuban American longing for the freedom of the Cuban
people, the hope that I had in the church's role as a guiding
institution in Cuba's transition has been diminished, if not
extinguished. During the Pope's visit to Cuba, Benedict XVI decided to
secure a minimal space for the church rather than defend Cuba's
innocents and its most loyal followers against the abuses they endure
daily. Whether this is ultimately in the church's long-term benefit is
debatable.
A legitimate question remains: Is the pope's decision one that Christ
would have made?
The pope broke from the tradition of both Christ and the Church of
defending the defenseless in order to meet its short-term goals of
"securing space." What would Jesus have done in a similar situation? The
answer seems readily available in the Gospels.
For example, In John 8, Jesus is at the temple and the Pharisees bring
before him an adulteress, saying by Moses' Law, she should be stoned.
Facing a crowd ready to condemn the woman, Jesus protected her. He let
the multitude walk away, choosing to protect the meek woman over
lowering his principles to placate the masses and win more disciples.
Pope Benedict XVI did just the opposite. During the Mass in Santiago,
when a man slid past security and yelled for freedom and was beaten
before the crowd and the cameras, not the pope, not the clergymen, not
the pilgrims from the U.S., not one individual stood by this man to
protect him from the mobs that condemned him for violating the
revolution's laws.
In the same way, would Jesus have chosen to ignore the Damas de Blanco?
Would anyone suggest that Christ the King would bow to the will of a
murderous dictatorship and ignore his most faithful on the island — the
constantly harassed, beaten, and detained who sing his praise most high?
Christ valued human dignity over "creating space." At the end of John
8:59, the Pharisees are so angered by his teachings that they attempt to
stone him and he must flee.
Jesus did not appease. He did not collaborate. He spoke the truth plainly.
Pope Benedict XVI made a few vague and platitudinous references couched
in appeasement about freedom and little more.
Christ would likely have met with Cuba's leadership, as did the pope.
After all, Christ met with the Pharisees and tried to show them the way.
But Christ would not have ignored and excluded the cries of the abused.
Matthew 11:28, "Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and
I will give you rest." The pope ignored Cuba's most overburdened and abused.
Would Christ have acted pragmatically, choosing to grow the church, or
would Christ have defended the defenseless?
During this Holy Season, we are reminded that Christ did not rub elbows
with Rome. He did not say what the powerful and influential wanted to
hear. He spoke the truth and fought for the meek, ultimately being
crucified rather than parse words. In choosing pragmatism, did Joseph
Ratzinger ask that simple question – what would Jesus do?
Vanessa Lopez is a research associate at the Institute for Cuban and
Cuban-American Studies, University of Miami.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/08/2735451/on-the-popes-trip-to-cuba-what.html
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