Pablo Pacheco, Translator: Raul G.
The visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Cuba left a storm of arrests, blocked
phone lines, and beatings against non-violent dissidents. The most
visible of these cases has been the measures taken against the
individual who screamed "freedom" in the Pope's Mass in Santiago de
Cuba. The worst part of this specific case is that the oppressor used a
symbol of the Red Cross to attack the victim.
For me, what has been most lamentable about the Papal visit has been the
exclusion of a sector of the Cuban population. It is unbelievable that
His Holiness dedicated half an hour to Fidel Castro, the main henchman
of the Cuban Catholic Church, and refused to meet with the Ladies in
White and/or other peaceful dissidents, even if for just a minute.
On this trip to the island by the Vicar of Christ, there was no truce on
behalf of the oppressors against the dissidents. Actually, I see the
Catholic Church of Cuba as the winner of this story, as well as the
peaceful Cuban opposition. The decadent dictatorship has lost.
The Cuban Catholic Church was persecuted, insulted, and decimated during
the first years of the dictatorship. Their convents and schools were
closed, countless priests were exiled, etc. But they never lost Faith
and continued preaching the Gospel. Something similar happened to those
who believed in freedom, those who confronted the regime and who would
die in the execution wall screaming "Long Live Christ the King".
The dictatorship loses, because they lose spaces and the tiny openings
become cracks.
Raul Castro, one of the executioners of such cruelty, looked tired,
humiliated and worn out on television when the Bishop of Santiago de
Cuba refused to shake his hand. Who was to say that the atheist
soldier, 52 years after persecuting the religious would witness another
Papal Mass. God forced him, for God has power over men.
I agree with the words of Benedict XVI: "Cuba should be the home of all
and for all Cubans, where justice and freedom may thrive in an
atmosphere of serene brotherhood". But I should also point out that the
only ones who do not allow this to happen are the sames ones who His
Holiness shook hands with.
Evidently, there will not be reconciliation between the blade and the
wound. The wound is carried by those who slept in dungeons while the
Pope visited Cuba, those who are not allowed to travel to their own
country, those who have died for defending the freedom of their land,
the oppressed, those who were excluded by Benedict XVI. And the blade
is carried by all those who oppress their people, who beat people,
especially women who carry flowers in their hands. They are the sharp
blades, ready to stab the victims.
4 April 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment