On Saturday I linked to an essay written by Armando Valladares on the beatification of John Paul II that, unfortunately, was in Spanish and thus unavailable to our English-speaking readership. The good news is that there is an excellent English translation of the essay here.
Cuba and the Beatification of John Paul II: A Problem of Conscience for Catholics
The announced beatification of H.H. John Paul II on May 1 presents an unprecedented problem of conscience for many Cuban Catholics, who oppose Communism for reasons of Faith, love of country or love of family. Heartbroken and perplexed, those Catholics consider all that this Pontiff did or omitted doing in order to directly or indirectly favor Cuban Communism.
In this article I will cite some examples – which I have analyzed more extensively elsewhere – showing the papal collaboration with Communism on the Island-prison. I list these painful facts as a Catholic and a Cuban with all possible respect toward the Church, always open to hear explanations from duly authorized sources, which until this moment I do not know.
Praising the Communist Regime
On January 8, 2005, while receiving the credentials of the new Cuban ambassador, John Paul II praised the “goals” that the “Cuban authorities” supposedly accomplished in the fields of health, education and culture. Actually, for more than a half-century this trilogy has been touted by the regime to corrupt the consciences of whole generations of Cubans since childhood, causing a spiritual genocide without precedent in the history of the Church in the three Americas.Notwithstanding, on that same occasion John Paul II praised the regime, stressing that through that trilogy the “authorities” of Cuba – that is, the members of the Castro regime – “erected pillars in the house of peace” and promoted “harmonic growth of the body and the spirit.” He seemed to ignore that Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, in the name of that same trilogy, caused the destruction and death of “body and spirit” of countless persons in many countries of Latin America, Africa and Asia.
His praise for members of the Castro dictatorship could not have been higher. For the Cubans who suffered – and continue to suffer – the damage of the communist revolution in their country, these papal words are particularly painful, and I sincerely cannot find any justification for them. Those words go far beyond courteous diplomatic formulas. They shock and shatter the memory of those young Cuban Catholic martyrs who were shot by firing squads and died shouting: “Viva Cristo Rey! Abajo el Comunismo!” [Long live Christ the King! Down with Communism!]
Praising Cuba for exporting the Communist revolution
In that same speech, one of the most important about Cuba in his long pontificate, John Paul II extended his recognition to an alleged “spirit of solidarity” of Cuban internationalism supposedly manifested by “the shipment of personnel and resources of basic necessities” to other nations when they suffered “natural calamities, conflicts or poverty.”
In reality, far from reflecting Christian solidarity, the mentioned internationalism assigned Cuba the sad role of exporting conflicts to Latin America, Africa and Asia. It has used “personnel and resources” not to end strife or diminish poverty, but to exacerbate them by rearing guerillas, thus provoking bloody calamities much worse than any natural disaster. As history demonstrates, Cuban internationalism has helped to drag nations into the worst possible material and spiritual poverty, rather than to draw them out of this sad condition.
Continue reading the essay HERE.
(H/T Manuel A. Tellechea)