_WORLD WATCH______________________________
________________Cuba_______________
Pope criticizes ideologies
Condemns Communism, seeks end to US embargo
During an audience with the bishops of Cuba on July 6, Pope John Paul II denounced both the “tired old ideology” of Communism and the US embargo on the island nation. He also made several references to the modest steps toward religious freedom in Cuba.
The Holy Father told the Cuban bishops—who were in Rome for their ad limina visit—that the Church must provide “moral, civic, and religious formation” to the Cuban people, and promote the cause of justice without creating unnecessary confrontations. Justice, he continued, must include religious freedom for all and respect for human dignity from the moment of conception until natural death.
The Pontiff expressed his satisfaction that some young Cubans had been able to attend World Youth Day in Rome in 2000, and many Catholics had made pilgrimages during the Jubilee year. But he observed that others found it difficult or even impossible to exercise their religious beliefs freely. He called for substantial improvements in the sphere of religious freedom.
Justice also should reign in international affairs, the Pope said. He noted that when he had visited Cuba in 1998 he had denounced the US embargo, and his views remained the same. The confrontation, he said, involves a contest between two stale ideological positions: “one Marxist and Communist, the other liberal and individualistic.”
Back to Catholic World Report August/September 2001 Table of Contents