After Pope Criticizes Marxism, Cuba Diplomatic

Last updated on: March 23, 2012 at 6:47 pm by

After Pope Criticizes Marxism, Cuba Diplomatic 2012-03-23T18:47:23-07:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba will listen with respect to Pope Benedict XVI during his visit next week even if he differs with island leaders, the country’s foreign minister said Friday after the pontiff’s comment that Marxism is out of step with the times.

The pontiff made the comment to reporters during his long flight to Mexico, the first stop in his six-day tour. While it was in keeping with the Vatican’s position, it was an unexpectedly blunt statement to come just days before he will be on Cuban soil.

Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez avoided any clash over the statement.

“We consider the exchange of ideas to be useful. Our people have deep convictions developed over the course of our history,” Rodriguez said at a news conference. “Cuba will listen with all respect to his holiness.”

He added that the Cuban system “is a democratic social project, genuinely chosen, which is constantly perfecting itself.”

Benedict said it is “evident that Marxist ideology as it was conceived no longer responds to reality,” and exhorted Cubans to “find new models, with patience, and in a constructive way.”

Asked about reports of harassment and detention of dissidents on the island, Benedict said the church wants “to help in the spirit of dialogue to avoid trauma and to help bring about a just and fraternal society.”

Benedict’s comments were as bold as any his predecessor, John Paul II, made during his historic 1998 tour of Cuba. But they stopped short of directly challenging the country’s single-party political model, which has been in place for five decades. Benedict arrives Monday in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba.

President Raul Castro has initiated a slate of economic reforms in recent years permitting more private-sector activity on the communist-run island where the state has long controlled nearly the entire economy.

Many Cubans have opened small businesses and are farming previously state-held land. It is now legal for all islanders to buy and sell homes and cars.

Rodriguez emphasized areas of common ground between Havana and the Vatican, such as opposition to “the oppression of finances, opposition to treatment of human beings as if they were animals of consumption.”

Reaction to Benedict’s comments in South Florida, where some Cuban-Americans have criticized the pontiff’s trip, was mixed.

“I’m very optimistic that the Pope’s words and actions will have a great impact on the Cuban people that will lead to political change,” said Andy S. Gomez, a senior fellow at the University at Miami’s Institute for Cuban & Cuban-American Studies, who is traveling to Cuba as part of a church delegation.

Former U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Cuban-American and staunch opponent of the Cuban government, said he would reserve judgment about the pope’s visit for now, but criticized the role of the Roman Catholic Church has played in Cuba. Last week, Havana Cardinal Jaime Ortega asked state security to remove 13 dissidents from a church they had occupied to press Benedict to raise their complaints with the Cuban government.

Diaz-Balart said the pope should meet with representatives of the island’s small but vocal dissident community — something that Benedict does not plan to do.

“This pope is not visiting the Cuba that John Paul II visited,” Diaz-Balart said. “There’s much more opposition. There’s a new generation of leadership, a new generation of leaders in every municipality of Cuba, and they have to be acknowledged.”

Cuban officials said 797 journalists from 295 media outlets in 33 nations were issued visas to cover the 84-year-old pope’s visit, which is to include a meeting with Raul and possibly Fidel Castro.

___

Associated Press writers Andrea Rodriguez in Havana and Laura Wides-Munoz in Miami contributed to this report.

___

Follow Peter Orsi on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Peter(underscore)Orsi.

Previous Post

March 23, 2012

Philly Monsignor Seeks New Jury After Priest Plea

Next Post

March 23, 2012 US Monsignor Seeks New Jury After Priest Plea

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category

Select a Month April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: Noah's ark was made of cedar wood.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE