Catholic News Services
CMSM criticizes U.S. embargo against Cuba as hampering flow of ideas
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. economic embargo against Cuba is preventing the free flow of information and new ideas into the communist-ruled Caribbean nation, said Trinitarian Father Stan De Boe, justice and peace director of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men. Father De Boe, part of a delegation of religious men and women from the Americas who visited Cuba in March, said religious leaders in Cuba want an end to the embargo for more than economic reasons. The embargo further isolates the population from the ideas and events of the outside world, he said. "It keeps information and new ideas from flowing into the country," Father De Boe told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview. Information is limited in Cuba under the regime of President Fidel Castro, which controls the mass media allowing the government to control the thoughts of Cubans about world events, he said.
Mexico trip eye-opening for students, staff from U.S. Catholic school
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (CNS) -- When anyone in the tiny town of Jaxe, Mexico, receives a phone call, an announcement is made over the town's intercom system and the person receiving the call is asked to report to the town's only phone to take it. In an age where every teen seems to have a cell phone, that was a real eye-opener for the 13 high school students from Cathedral High School in Springfield who traveled to Mexico earlier this year. The trip was organized by Kevin McCarthy, director of guidance at the school. He and the principal, Sister Denise Granger, a Sister of St. Joseph, accompanied the teens. McCarthy remembers the impact volunteering for a month in Venezuela and six months in India had on him many years ago. The "spirit and energy" from the experience "stayed with me constantly so I approached Sister Denise," he said in an interview with The Catholic Observer, newspaper of the Springfield Diocese.
Church-run university slips through cracks to educate Cubans
HAVANA (CNS) -- Catholic schools are illegal in Cuba, but Spanish Dominican Father Jesus Espeja provides an informal university education for 900 students. His Fray Bartolome de las Casas Center in downtown Havana has managed to slip between the cracks of the Cuban government's desire for monopoly control of education and its inability to provide a wide range of educational services. "The center is well received by the government. There is no trouble so far. We're considered a service to the future of Cuba," said Father Espeja, director of the center. He said some government ministries sent workers for computer training and English courses. Yet, he acknowledged that the center is in a precarious position as the government can close it down at will. The church is prohibited from operating Catholic schools but can teach religion on church grounds. The center gives certificates to students who successfully complete courses, but these are not recognized by the government.
Hong Kong, Singapore church activities curtailed due to SARS
HONG KONG (CNS) -- Catholic Church services during Holy Week in Hong Kong will be curtailed as an increasing number of people are infected with a deadly pneumonia virus. To curb the spread of the disease, called severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, the Hong Kong Diocese has suggested that the foot-washing rite during the Holy Thursday liturgy be suspended, Father Thomas Law Kwok-fai told UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand. Father Law, who heads the Diocesan Liturgy Commission, said the diocese also suggested that there be no baptism by immersion during the Easter Vigil April 19. However, a decision on canceling the Palm Sunday procession April 13 had not yet been made, he added. In Singapore, where four people have died of the syndrome, Archbishop Nicholas Chia ordered the suspension of catechism classes and children's liturgy programs, as well as holding hands while praying the Our Father during Mass. The Singapore Archdiocese also suggested canceling baptism by immersion during the Easter Vigil.