Cuban-Americans cheer US archbishop's call for an end to Marxist rule

March 28, 2012

Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami drew a lengthy ovation from a congregation in Havana’s cathedral as he issued a call for an end to Marxist rule in Cuba.

The American prelate had traveled to Cuba with a group of over 300 Cuban-Americans, mostly from the Miami area, to greet Pope Benedict XVI during the Pope’s visit to the island. He celebrated Mass in the Havana cathedral on Tuesday, before the Pontiff’s arrival there.

Archbishop Wenski reminded the members of his congregation that they had come to Cuba as pilgrims, and stressed that their goal should be spiritual rather than political. Nevertheless he roused their enthusiasm when he said that Marxism was a “spent ideology” and should be discarded.

"However, as Cuba transitions, the Pope and the Church want a transition that is worthy of the Cuban's aspirations, a transition worthy of man," the archbishop quickly added. "To go from the ideological materialism of Marxism to a practical materialism such as that of many Western societies would not be worthy of man."

 

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Further information:

• Archbishop Wenski gets standing O in Havana (AP)
• For a day, Havana's cathedral belonged to a Miami prelate (McClatchy)
• Archbishop to Cuban-Americans: Think like pilgrims (Miami Herald)