January 27, 2000 NEWS & VIEWS: (jan27nv4.htm)

THURSDAY
January 27, 2000
volume 11, no. 19

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Articles provided through Catholic World News and Church News at Noticias Eclesiales and International Dossiers, Daily Dispatches and Features at ZENIT International News Agency. CWN, NE and ZENIT are not affiliated with the Daily CATHOLIC but provide this service via e-mail to the Daily CATHOLIC Monday through Friday.

CUBAN BISHOPS FRUSTRATED BY DECORATION OF DISSENTER THEOLOGIAN HAVANA (CWNews.com) - A source of the Bishops' Conference in Cuba described as "frustrating" the decision of well-known Brazilian liberation theologian Frei Betto to receive a medal from the Cuban government.

On Friday, January 21 , Dominican Father Carlos Alberto Libanio Christo, widely known as "Frei Betto" became the first Catholic priest ever to receive the "Medal of Friendship," given by Cuba's State Council -- which is headed by President Fidel Castro -- to those who express "public and open support to the Socialist Revolution" in the Island.

The medal was given to Frei Betto by Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage. During the ceremony, the Brazilian-born Dominican priest, who published an interview with Castro in 1990, greeted Cuba for its "support to the Third World Countries by sending doctors and nurses and expressing always great solidarity."

A source at the Cuban Bishops' Conference who asked not to be named said that the Cuban bishops felt "frustrated by the fact that Frei Betto did not use his great influence and friendship with the regime to speak in favor of the rights of Cuban Catholics," but also said that they were "not surprised," because "for many years he (Frei Betto) has openly supported the system and ignores or simply rejects the Church in Cuba," the source added.

Frei Betto, a strong supporter of Liberation Theology in Brazil, became famous in Latin America when he became an outspoken critic of the Brazilian military dictatorship during the 1970s. Nevertheless, he is frequently criticized for not expressing concern for human right violations in Cuba.


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