Cuban priest was summoned by authorities after calling for prayers for Cuba and Venezuela

After calling for a day of public prayer to ask for Cuba and Venezuela, Father Kenny Fernández Delgado, parish priest of the church of San Antonio de Padua in Arroyo Naranjo, in the Archdiocese of Havana (Cuba), denounced that he was summoned by the authorities.

The invitation, shared on social networks on August 1urged the faithful to gather on Saturday, August 3 at 10:00 am (local time) in a park to pray “without signs”, “without slogans”, “with no other leader than Jesus Christ” and “above all , without fear.” He encouraged those who felt afraid to participate silently.

The day after the publication on social networks, August 2, Father Fernández Delgado revealed on his social network account (formerly Twitter) that he had been contacted by an official for an appointment that coincided with the time of the prayer call. Later, he received a call from a military officer, “to tell me that if I don’t go there will be consequences. Whatever happens to me, we will all be united, praying.”

A week later, August 10Father Fernández Delgado shared on his social networks that the reason they gave him for the summons was based on his activity as a landlord of a small apartment, which, according to the authorities, gives them the power to summon him at any time.

Father Fernández Delgado also mentioned that the authorities took the opportunity to ask him for explanations about his publications on social networks, arguing that “calling to pray in parks is a pre-criminal activity and instigation to commit a crime.”

According to the priest’s testimony, the authorities explained to him that it is “a crime to call for prayer in parks or public spaces,” since it could lead to the commission of “crimes against the revolution, in which case the convener will be held responsible.”

“That is to say, those of us who call to do something good are responsible for what the criminals do,” criticized Father Fernández Delgado.

Likewise, he indicated that, according to the authorities, “the convener of prayer in public places must ask permission from the corresponding authorities according to the new Communication and Demonstration law; failure to do so is an illegal call and the convener will incur the corresponding sanctions.”

Finally, Father Fernández Delgado pointed out that the agents informed him that “only calls that are within Churches, places of Worship, are allowed.” Despite this, the priest expressed: “we know that everything they imagine that could be against the revolution can be and has even been repressed as well.”

The priest indicated in his Facebook post on August 10 that he informed the authorities that his intention “was only to pray for a solution to conflicts where peace and justice reign in Venezuela and Cuba and I think that should be the interest of all parties.”

Despite the pressure, the priest assured that he will continue “defending my freedom of expression and that of all Cubans.” “If my teacher went to the Cross for defending his ideas, I will go too.”

“I don’t mind losing an apartment, or my life, or that of my loved ones, as long as I win Christ and know that He, whom you. They don’t know, he has more than enough power to resurrect me and my loved ones,” he added.

Father Fernández Delgado also revealed that the summons was made at the same time as the prayer call “to avoid my participation,” but he assured that the prayer day was not stopped, “because the call did not depend on me at all. I was praying there.”

Does praying help to improve the government of a country?

In a Facebook post, Father Fernández Delgado indicated that “when one prays, it is always so that the will of God is done and not the will of the one who is doing the prayer.”

In this sense, he explained that “if God allows dictators to continue ruling, He knows very well the reasons for allowing it, although we, sometimes, cannot understand it.” Even so, he highlighted that “the style of government of the King of the Universe is not dictatorial at all, but rather gives a lot of freedom.”

For this reason, he pointed out that a people who love God “can never be a people who are slaves to a dictatorship, since these citizens would never allow anything against God” and “dictatorships can only survive at the cost of deception and the repression of the desire for most, and many other things contrary to the commandments of the King of the Universe.”