The Church in Cuba is poor, synodal and hopeful, affirms the Bishop of Holguín

The Bishop of Holguín, Bishop Emilio Aranguren, defines the Church in Cuba as active, poor, synodal and hopeful during the presentation of a Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) campaign in Spain.

“The Church in Cuba is a living Church, it is a united Church, it is also a poor Church” that over the years “has been creating its own spirituality” based on the value of the little, the small, the anonymous and the value of little by little, that its judgment “remains active, also creative” and that above all it is characterized by being “a hopeful Church.”

This is how Bishop Aranguren, who is also president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba, began the profile of the Church that is pilgrim on the Caribbean island, which he also stated is “a Church that suffers,” in particular because of “the exodus of so many Cubans abroad,” among whom are priests and deacons, he pointed out.

On the other hand, the prelate highlighted that the Church in Cuba is synodal “not because of the invitation that Pope Francis is making to us,” but for years because submission to the communist regime “retracted it by lacking all its institutions and be limited only to Christian communities” as the only spaces for evangelization.

“We have always had this type of experience where we are constantly listening, where we are constantly sharing,” Bishop Aranguren pointed out, and in which the laity are involved, “not only in their specific field in the social field, but also in the internal field. of the community, in the exercise of the different ministries.”

In this sense, he stressed that “our Church, by the power of the Holy Spirit and also by the need we have had, has been open to lay ministries for years.”

Bishop Aranguren also outlined the face of the Church in Cuba as “always attentive and respectful to the expressions of simple and popular faith,” which translates into “respect for God,” a feeling that is manifested in everyday expressions such as Greet with “God bless you” instead of “good morning.”

For the prelate, the Church in Cuba is also characterized by “doing good,” pointing out that its credibility is linked “to the charity that it has shown throughout the centuries” despite poverty, being “a dependent Church ” which can barely count on the contributions of the faithful, whose economic situation is very limited. “That is why many times we have little chance of carrying out some actions that we would like, but we really cannot,” he lamented.

Challenges of the Church in Cuba

Despite the difficulties, the Church in Cuba has challenges to face, among which Bishop Aranguren has stated in the first place to achieve a “coherent presence of life” that is transmitted in families, in such a way that the newly confirmed young person can develop “an action with its own identity in the midst of a society that today has already declared itself a secular State.”

The Church in Cuba also wants to develop its 2023-2030 pastoral plan, whose objective is to offer Christian witness to others because, he added, “today it is not enough to be a practicing Catholic” who attends Sunday worship, but the experience of Christianity must extend to “integral life in its different cores.”

In the clerical sphere, Bishop Aranguren has also shared that the Church in Cuba has “a strong need to help priests,” as well as the abundant female religious life, whose communities are made up of the vast majority of foreign women who belong to 118 congregations and institutes.

In another area, the Church in Cuba must face the challenge of maintaining and repairing the vehicles that facilitate travel in order to meet pastoral needs and buildings: “we have to repair the one that was already restored eight or ten years ago, but We still have some temples on the ground,” described Bishop Aranguren.

Campaign to Aid the Church in Need

To face the challenges of the Church in Cuba, the Pontifical Foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has launched a campaign within the framework of the novena to the Virgin of Charity, patron saint of the island.

The objective is to address the “lack of material means for pastoral care, the need for formation of the laity or the accompaniment of vocations” in a church in which 3,700 pastoral agents collaborate with only 370 priests. This means that Cuba is the country with the highest ratio of Catholics per priest in the world, with more than 20,000 faithful per priest, according to ACN data.

Thus, ACN wants to finance thousands of publications for catechesis, organize training workshops for lay people in the Diocese of Pinar del Río; commission 2,000 masses from the priests of the Diocese of Holguín, in order to help support the priests through stipends; or finance the basic needs of religious in the Diocese of Santa Clara.