Church vs State
Much has been written in the past few weeks about the recent decision by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in Cuba to effectively close down one of its own magazines, Vitral.
As you no doubt recall, the magazine was published by the Church in Pinar del Rio province but it was distributed nationally, although in minute numbers.
It seems that Vitral had become too “polemical”, making not-too-subtle references to human rights violations on the island, poor pay and conditions for workers, and widespread economic deprivation and inequality.
So, you may want to have a read of this opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal today.
The author, Mary Anastasia O’Grady, argues that in shutting down Vitral the Church has "yielded to pressure” from the thugs in the Castro regime.
“What is more troubling for Catholics, both inside and outside the country, is what the gag order says about the Church's leadership, which has long been accused of preferring collaboration over confrontation with the dictatorship,” Ms O’Grady says.
“Considering what happened in Poland, many had hoped the Church might lead the Cuban people to freedom. But now Catholics on the island are expressing a painful sense of betrayal. Whether out of fear of or sympathy with the regime, the Church seems to have capitulated.”
Well, it’s one way of looking at the demise of the feisty publication. Iam sure there are others.
Read the entire article here.
As you no doubt recall, the magazine was published by the Church in Pinar del Rio province but it was distributed nationally, although in minute numbers.
It seems that Vitral had become too “polemical”, making not-too-subtle references to human rights violations on the island, poor pay and conditions for workers, and widespread economic deprivation and inequality.
So, you may want to have a read of this opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal today.
The author, Mary Anastasia O’Grady, argues that in shutting down Vitral the Church has "yielded to pressure” from the thugs in the Castro regime.
“What is more troubling for Catholics, both inside and outside the country, is what the gag order says about the Church's leadership, which has long been accused of preferring collaboration over confrontation with the dictatorship,” Ms O’Grady says.
“Considering what happened in Poland, many had hoped the Church might lead the Cuban people to freedom. But now Catholics on the island are expressing a painful sense of betrayal. Whether out of fear of or sympathy with the regime, the Church seems to have capitulated.”
Well, it’s one way of looking at the demise of the feisty publication. Iam sure there are others.
Read the entire article here.
posted by Luis M Garcia at 3:38 pm
1 Comments:
This is a sad, painful business. Maybe things look worse than they really are, but the Catholic Church (not just in Cuba but in Rome) has made too many highly questionable moves in dealing (or not dealing) with Cuba's plight. Even appearances, if they're bad enough, can be very harmful.
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