Pope Benedict XVI’S three day visit to Cuba has generated much speculation regarding
what sort of impact the journey may have on the formerly atheist nation. Commentators
have remarked that one of the first signs that Pope Benedict’s visit was a success
came with the announcement by Cuban authorities that they would grant the Pope’s
request that Good Friday be made a national holiday.
For some insight into
the impact of the papal visit to the island nation, we spoke to Bishop Luis del Castillo
Estrada, S.J., the retired bishop of Melo, Uruguay who serves as a parish priest in
Cuba.
He told Vatican Radio it is important to understand that the Pope’s visit
was pastoral in nature though it did have wider impact.
Tens of thousands of
Cubans – what bishop Castillo Estrada calls “rivers” of people – celebrated the 400th
Jubilee of the finding of the statue of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre as it was
carried through towns, cities, and rural areas for veneration by Christians and non.
He says as many people are coming into the Catholic Church in Cuba, there
is an important challenge to be met: the lack of prepared catechists. And, Bishop
Estrada notes an additional need to re-catechise older generations of Catholics who
left the Church or were dissuaded from practicing their faith over past decades.
Bishop
del Castillo Estrada points out that one of the most important social challenges facing
Cuba today is that it must import 80% of all food products – an unsustainable situation
that is generating a growing movement inside the country calling for change.
Another
dimension of the Pope’s visit, he continues, should be seen in the context of an improving
relationship between the Church and different religious convictions, and the government.
When
studying relations between Church and State, says Bishop Estrada, one should take
into account an important speech given by Raoul Castro to the National Assembly on
August 1, 2011. In this report by Tracey McClure, Bishop Estrada explains why: