NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      MIAMI, 5 (NE) Hundreds of Cuban Catholics participated during Holy Week of the many celebrations recalling the mysteries of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Manifesting the Cuban people's popular faith, numerous faithful participated in the Via Crucis that was carried out in the parish of the "Santisima Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre", that last year was witness of the first public procession authorized by Castro's regime.

      On the other hand, Cardinal Jaime Ortega and Alamino, Archbishop of Havana, presided over the Easter Vigil that was carried out in the square of the Cathedral of Havana and also the Easter Sunday celebration. These Masses also gathered hundreds of people who participated in the Eucharistic ceremony and celebrated the victory of the Lord Jesus over death.

      CWN reported that It was the second time, after a similar ceremony last year, that the ceremony had been held in public since religious activities were ordered confined to church premises soon after Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution.

      In his homily, the cardinal told the congregation that Christ had been mistaken in his own time for a political rebel against the ruling authorities, but that his real mission was salvation for all mankind. The statement may have been a reassurance for the Communist government which is wary of the Church taking a political role.