Dr. Yleem Poblete in National Review:
The Castros Are Unrepentant, Their Crimes Are Ongoing, and They Do Not Deserve Forgiveness
In October 1953, Cuban Communist guerilla Fidel Castro faced charges for leading the failed attack on the Moncada barracks. He defended himself with a four-hour-long speech concluding with: “History will absolve me.” Has it? Has the Castro regime been exonerated of responsibility for its crimes? The apparatchiks have not changed. Yet President Obama announced on December 17, 2014, that he was unconditionally reversing U.S. policy toward the Communist dictatorship.
A concerted U.S. effort has since been under way to whitewash the Cuban dossier. Most recently, the administration reportedly manipulated the State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report to justify upgrading the regime’s status and to create the illusion of Havana as a responsible stakeholder. Full diplomatic relations have been restored, numerous economic restrictions have been eased, and more U.S. concessions are expected. These steps, according to Secretary of State John Kerry, are rooted in a decision “to stop being the prisoners of history and to focus on the opportunities of today and tomorrow.”
With the Holy See playing an integral role in this U.S.–Cuba rapprochement, will the pontiff follow Washington’s lead and also wipe the slate clean? Will the Holy Father provide political absolution to the Havana tyranny and Communist-party leadership during his visit to Cuba? Do the elements exist that would justify forgiving their crimes?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the sacrament of forgiveness requires “contrition, confession, and satisfaction.” Contrition requires the sinner to possess deep sorrow for past offenses against God and neighbors. The sinner must be firmly committed to amend his evil ways and resolve to sin no more. In the case of Cuba, the dictatorship does not detest the more than five decades of murder, torture, arbitrary arrests of human-rights dissidents and political opponents, or infanticide using Rivanol (among other methods). Quite the opposite.
Raúl Castro’s words and deeds since December 17, 2014, are boastful and strident in defense of Communism and the totalitarian system that his brother started and he continues. The Castro machinery is stained with the blood and tears of prisoners of conscience and human-rights defenders. The regime shows no remorse for past acts. In fact, it gave a hero’s welcome to a convicted Cuban spy who was complicit in the murder of innocent Americans. It still harbors wanted terrorists, killers, and other fugitives. Injuries continue. Thousands of men and women of all races, ages, and backgrounds, seeking to exercise their fundamental rights, have been beaten and arrested in just the last eight months.
Continue reading HERE.
Every photo of the titular Vicar of Christ smiling like this next to an evil, godless, unrepentant tyrant with blood on his hands is a scandal, an abomination and an outrage–and there have been quite a few such photos, as no doubt there will be more. I don’t know what else one can say that isn’t screamingly obvious. Lord have mercy.