12 years after his death: Cubans remember Oswaldo Payá with Mass in the Hermitage of Charity

All of Oswaldo Payá’s efforts to embark on the search for freedom in Cuba were motivated by his faith and love for Christ, expressed the rector of the Hermitage of Charity, in Miami, Father José Espino, when referring to the founder of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL), whose memory was remembered on Monday, July 22.

Yesterday marked twelve years since the death of Oswaldo Payá and activist Harold Cepero, which occurred when they were traveling in a vehicle to eastern Cuba to promote an initiative to unify the peaceful opposition. Both were accompanied by the Spanish Ángel Carromero and the Swede Aron Modig.

The communist regime’s argument was that the dissidents’ vehicle crashed into a tree due to excessive speed. However, the evidence presented by the family and the MCL suggests that a government car had hit them to run them off the highway.

In 2013, Payá’s family and the MCL presented a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to conduct an investigation.

On June 12, 2023, the OAS body published a report which states that there are “multiple elements of evidence related to the participation of state agents in the deaths of Messrs. Payá and Cepero.”

A life of faith dedicated to Cuba

From the Hermitage of Charity, the center of meeting and Marian devotion of the Cuban community in the United States, Father Espino reflected on the life of faith and dedication of Oswaldo Payá to lead his country on the path to democracy.

“I know that all of Oswaldo’s efforts were motivated by his faith. It was in front of the Blessed Sacrament that he decided to launch himself into proclaiming something new. Not only for him, but for our country,” the Cuban priest assured the faithful and family members present.

The rector of the Hermitage of Charity pointed out that the promises of Christ “pushed him to seek the true new man, who is not created by a dictatorial society, but by the freedom of the children of God.”

On September 8, 1988, Payá founded the MCL with other Catholic activists, from which he promoted the Varela Project —which takes the last name of the Cuban priest Félix Varela—, an initiative to peacefully democratize Cuba.

The priest pointed out that the legacy of Oswaldo and Harold invites Cubans to continue dreaming, “but also making a new world a reality for everyone.” Furthermore, he stated that the sacrifice of both “has not been in vain.”

“I invite you tonight, above all, to trust that our deceased are in the hands of God, that the sacrifice is never in vain, that the Lord’s promises will be fulfilled,” said the rector, who also asked to pray for Cuba, but in particular for Venezuela, “which is at a critical moment of presidential elections,” which will be held on Sunday, July 28.

Before the Cuban faithful, Father Espino pointed out that “we are still called to proclaim not only the possibility, but the necessity of a new world. A place where there is no discrimination or injustice, where there is complete freedom for every man.”