Untitled - Convivencia

is no possible development. Back in thecontext of 1898 this truth was as visible as alight in the dark and so states the patriarchwho presents his people: “The Church inLatin America made in Puebla the option forthe poor and the poorest amongst us arethose who don’t have the valued gift offreedom”.10. Cuba- the Island and its Diaspora- hasa vocation of universality.It must open itself up and leave behind itsselfishness and exclusions between Cubans,men and women and it should open itself upto the world because the world wants toopen itself to Cuba for a long time now.John Paul II had already said it in that veryvisit. The words by Meurice have a dialoguewith the Polish Pope’s desire. Cuba mustenter the future along the bridges of theinterdependence of solidarity and thecommunity of globalization. Cuba’sgeography as an Island never markedCubans negatively. We are people of opennature, hospitable, frank, expressive andwarm. The foreign and continental ideologythat locked us in an island blockade was, bythe way, conceived, in the making, in anotherIsland in Northern Europe but exported tothe Caribbean already under the seven boltsof Eastern Siberia. Nothing more alien to ourcharacter and vocation. With prophetic words,under the radiant Sun of the Cuban East,Pedro Claro Meurice Estiú closed significantlyhis words by opening the bolts of the mindsand building bridges over the blockades ofauthoritarianism when he said: “This is apeople that have a vocation of universalityand it is a creator of bridges ofneighbourhood and affection but it is moreand more blocked by foreign interests and itsuffers from a selfishness culture due to thehard economic and moral crisis we undergo”.universal communion; because as a pastor ofthe “polis” he was entrusted with, he did andsaid what he thought it was better in order toreach the common good and that meansPolitics in a wide, inclusive sense and as thePope Pío XII used to say: “politics is an eminentform of Charity”. Meurice also lived Charityprophetically.One day, history and Church will look for andemphasize vehemently “this voice that cried outin the desert”.Just as Meurice could courageously live theunwavering coherence between his two loves:Cuba and the Gospel of Christ, we Cubans, menand women should live the coherence betweenwhat we feel, what we believe, what we say andwhat we do, without deceitfulness and withoutfear.That would be the best monument to thememory of the pastor who was strong, who sawfar, spoke clearly and loved much… and actedconsistently.Pinar de Río, August 4 th 2011.(1)All the quotations in italics are from thespeech of presentation and greetings to thePope by Mons. Meurice. The speech wasdelivered at the beginning of the Mass inSantiago de Cuba on the 24 th January 1998.(2) Ajiaco: A stew made up of many ingredients.The “ajiaco” is an analogy with the Cubansociety.Many persons these days have emphasizedthe prophetic character and the vitalcoherence between faith and life showed byMons. Meurice. Many have clarified thatthese words were pronounced as a Pastorand not as a political maneuverer becausethe coherence in which he lived and guidedhis people didn’t align with “politics” from aparty or parties. “Don’t split up” was his lastadvice in the search for the inclusive andEdiciones ConvivenciaPinar del Río. 201292