Untitled - Convivencia

disabled to join this fascinating task becauseof the limitation of his personal liberties; maynobody be exempted from the task because ofapathy or lack of material resources which isa situation that becomes worse whenrestrictive economic measures are imposedfrom abroad and are a burden on thepopulation”. (Farewell words at the José MartíAirport in Havana).These teachings satisfy other expectationsshared by many persons and outlined innumber 1 of Editorial 24: Charity unites us.Unity is inclusion. It proposes an inclusive andsupportive society which is not blocked fromabroad and much less from inside because ofthe apathy, repression or disrespectfuldisregard for diversity on the part of the verycivil or ecclesiastic authorities. We can’tunderstand how the government can respectand feel affection for a foreign visitor’sthinking, whether it is different of coincident -in this case, the Pope’s thinking- and is unableto do the same thing regarding its owncitizens who are pacific, independent andrespectful of the laws of coexistence in theland where they were born.8. The role of the Church in Cuba: to showits true face without fear or complex.“Dear brothers and sisters, I know how mucheffort, courage and selflessness you show towork every day under the concretecircumstances of your Country in this time ofhistory so that the Church reflects more andmore its true face as a place where Godapproaches and meets man. The Church… hasthe mission of extending the liberatingpresence of God on earth; the mission ofopening up the world to something greaterthan itself, to the love and the light of God. It’sworth it to devote all our lives to Christ…Easter is near so let us decide, without fear orcomplex, to follow Jesus in his path toward thecross. Let us accept patiently and faithfullyany setback of grief, with the conviction that,in his resurrection, he has defeated the powerof evil which makes everything dark; he hasmade possible the dawning of a new world,the world of God, of light, of truth and joy”.(Homily during the Mass at the Antonio MaceoSquare in Santiago de Cuba).Expectation number 9 in our Editorial 24expected from the Pope a message which mayexhort us to: the transition from fear to hopeand from hope to the reconstruction of theCountry. These teachings at the AntonioMaceo Square confirm and satisfy manypersons who want to overcome fear and opena more breathable world. At the same time, itis an exhortation to the Cuban Church to befaithful to Jesus Christ, to reflect its true faceand not to be afraid of the cross of its Lord.Cooperation and confidence cannot exist atany cost. We cannot stop being part ofourselves so that we don’t have any problemswith the ones different from us. Society andthe Church cannot exclude part of theirmessages or part of the persons that make upthem for being different in order to please theother part of that very society or that veryChurch, in order to talk, trust or cooperatewith this other part. Confidence andcooperation must be with all parts otherwisethey are not believable cooperation orconfidence. What is at stake is the authenticityand credibility of all parts.9. The true religious freedom includesthe social and political performance ofbelievers.“The indispensable contribution that religion isdestined to perform in the public sphere ofsociety”. (Greeting on the arrival at theAntonio Maceo Airport). “The right to religiousfreedom, in the individual dimension as wellas in the communitarian dimension shows theunity of the human person who is a citizenand a believer at the same time. This rightalso legitimizes the fact that believers offer acontribution to the building of society. Thereinforcement of this right consolidates theact of living together, nurtures the hope for abetter world, creates favourable conditions forpeace and harmonious development and atthe same time it establishes steady bases toconsolidate the rights for future generations.Whenever the Church highlights this right it’snot demanding a privilege; it just intends to befaithful to what its divine founder mandated,conscious of the fact that wherever Christmakes Himself present, man grows inhumanity and finds his consistence”. (Homilyduring the Mass at the José Martí Civic Squarein Havana).Ediciones ConvivenciaPinar del Río. 2012111