The one thing that I did learn at a very early age in my life was the fact that, I would be much better off keeping my mouth shut anytime the subject of religion was under probe. I have, throughout the years, been pragmatic enough to live by this canon and, admittedly, it has served me well by keeping me out of trouble on more than one occasion, but not this time around.
As you all may be well aware, as recently as December 17th, 2014, Marxist president Barack Obama, announced the U.S. wouldrestorefull relations with the communist island-nation of Cuba, including the opening of an embassy in that country. Furthermore, we also learned that Pope Francis was much a part of this repulsive accord and, in fact, he [the Pope] had played a crucial role in brokering the landmark deal between the United States and Cuba. Now, as far as I was concerned, this was more than I could handle. For Barack Obama, a renowned left-wing radical and/or career communist, your pick, the Cuban pact was sort of par-for-the course,
'to-be-expected', if you will.Vis-a-vis for Pope Francis, the head the largest Christian church in the world, with 1.2 billion followers, I thought, was simply appalling. I was infuriated to the point I was willing to break my historical vows of religious silence, albeit my running the ad nauseam risk of been chastised by the fanatical wing of my church for doing just that. But, honestly, I could not care less.
My arguments today, are as straightforward and undemanding as I can think of. I will try my best, to present these [arguments] constrained to the utmost boundaries of respect and reverence, owed the Catholic church, to whom I am faithfully indebted still, and shall always grant my undivided loyalty in spite of whatever philosophical crevices may separate us in the end. I shall preface this dissertation by letting all my readers know that I was baptized early on in my life and was subsequently educated in a Catholic school. I would like to self-describe myself as your average brethren of this faith - possibly, if you will, not as pious as any of my mentors would have liked, but certainly devout enough as to attend mass most every Sunday. Through my early teachings of religion in Cuba before the dawn of the Revolution on the eve of December 31
st, 1959, I had learned about God and Jesus Christ; I had learned that Jesus, the Son of God, had died for us on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. I also learned that [HIS] life and legacy were meant exclusively to lead our lives and legacies. Our roles as members of the Catholic faith then, would be to simply follow in Jesus' footsteps as, in the end, it was all a matter of earning our share of [HIS] glory by simply cloning his good deeds or otherwise suffering in hell for not doing so.
In short, the almighty father God and his son Jesus Christ, have been, are, and forever will be, symbols of virtuosity and perfection, meant for all members of this faith to emulate, albeit the fact that we all have been born flawed with human imperfections, therefore, our lives, could be thought of as a measure of our willingness to resemble God's image. At precisely the very same time that I was learning these tenets of faith, I also learned that God's leading representative and head of the Catholic church on earth was the Pope, whereas, the Vatican or the Vatican City was an
ecclesiastical or
sacerdotal-
monarchical state ruled by the Bishop of
Rome--the
Pope. By virtue of this hierarchy alone, then, the principal role of the Pope, was understandably so, to act as the leading representative of God, the Father, on this earth; his role, to lead us, guide us and direct us all members of the Catholic faith through a path of righteousness as we all passed-by through this dimension, so-called '
life'. The sanctity of the Vatican and His Holiness, the Pope, should then, be construed of as sacred, if yet, presumably, as close as we can all come to God.
Cuban Pact: I could not, for the life of me, understand His Holiness key-man role in making it all possible
In lieu of my upbringing, my teachings and my religious background, then, in the matter of the Cuban pact, I could not, for the life of me, understand His Holiness key-man role in making it all possible, since, as far as I was concerned, a pact with the devil himself, would probably have been less distasteful - more palatable perhaps. Maybe someone can explain. Just please, spare me if you will, the tirades and diatribes designed to making all us belief that the Cuban pact and the lifting of the embargo, are meaningful strides in the improvement of Human Rights and religious freedom. Just, please spare me this inconsequential conclusion, if you will.
While trying to gain some insight at the Pope's ghastly role in the Cuban treaty, it just dawned on me, that His Holiness, Pope Francis, was: 1) neither a newcomer to the US's isolationist policies towards the communist island-nation, nor 2) was he [Pope Francis], alone in making this pact possible. Matter of fact, Pope Francis was just one more of the Vatican's heads of the church clamoring for the lifting of the embargo and the rekindling of the United States' relations with the Cuban tyranny. Matter of fact, the Vatican, had been reaching out to thaw the frozen relations between the two countries [U.S. and Cuba], since back in 1998, when Pope John Paul II, visited the impoverished island and clamored for a slackening of the stringent relations between Cuba and the rest of the world - one which he characterized as "closed", yet in dire need to "re-open".
Unbeknownst to many Catholic brethren, back in the day, in 1998, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, and then soon-to-be Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, did accompany Pope John Paul II on his Cuban visit with communist dictator Fidel Castro. As a result of his trip, Bergoglio compiled a book named "
Dialogues between John Paul II and Fidel Castro" and, while he, on the one hand, harshly criticized socialism and Castro's atheist revolution for denying individuals their "
transcendent dignity" and putting them solely at the service of the state, on the other hand, he did fervently denounce the U.S. embargo and the U.S.'s isolationist policies towards Cuba, bellowing for the need of a dialogue with the Cuban dictator.
Notwithstanding each of the heads of church position on the Cuban issues, one way or the other, it is an incontrovertible fact that, generically speaking, the Catholic church, as a whole, beginning with Pope John Paul II back in 1998 and as recent as Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Cuba in 2012, most of the church's leading clergymen, including Cuban Cardinal, Jaime Ortega, a close friend of Pope Francis, and Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski, have all been avid proponents of an open-policy relationship with the Cuban devils - presumably a stepping-stone to the return of freedom and democracy to the Island, and, while I can respectfully agree to disagree, I cannot understand, for the life of me, any mitigating circumstances, bar none, to back-up the surrealistic nature of this impractical objective, especially so, in consideration to the fact that the Castro scoundrels, have spent a lifetime, 55 years to be exact, promoting the precise opposite of what is being proposed by the church's leadership.
Last but certainly not least, I started it all by preaching to you all, the canons of faith based on the church's teachings regarding the righteous expectations as set forth by our mentor Jesus Christ, to wit, a path of virtuosity - ironically, one diametrically opposed to the Communist postulates implanted on the impoverished Communist Island of Cuba, by two of the world's most renown assassins.
Again, in lieu of an irrefutable history of fifty-five years oppression, subjugation or otherwise utter disregard for the most basic freedoms deserved by all peoples of the world, I am left with no alternative but to respectfully ask the church leaders: Why has not the church demanded from the Castro brothers in the last 55 years to stop the torturing, the killings, the raids on Human Rights, which paved the way for the U.S. embargo and the isolationist policy? Why has not the church taken a leadership position, as well they should have, in defending the Cuban people from one of the cruelest dictatorships, ever? Why has not the church, clamored with the same passion as they have in lifting the embargo and renewing relations with Cuba for the end of the continued "flagrant
violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms" to Cubans? Why has the church, and its leaders, remained silent during the past 55 years over the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Cubans fleeing the island who perished in the Florida Straits as their only alternative to living under the same Communist regime with whom the church has so avidly been proposing to renew relations with? Why has not the church condemned the Castro brothers for their promoting atheism and their disdainful treatment of anyone of the Catholic faith over the past fifty-five years? Why? Why? Why?
Are we to blame the U.S.? ...the embargo?....isolationism? which is it? Honestly, I do not know the answers to any of these questions. Maybe you do. But what I do know, is that based on everything I have been taught in my years as a Catholic; on all my beliefs and values through my Catholic upbringing, I could see Jesus, were he alive today, forgiving the Castro brothers for all their sins, their evilness and wrongdoings. Maybe even as far as forgiving them for all the impassive suffering and deaths they have caused and have been responsible for over the past fifty-years. Maybe so. I honestly do not know. What I do know, however, again, were [HE], Jesus, alive today, I could not see Him, I don't think, making any pacts, deals or treaties, whatsoever with the devil himself such as are either one of the Castro brothers themselves. I leave you all, my brothers and sisters but with an undemanding passage of the bible according to Mathew, which reads:
"Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. "It is written," he said to them, "My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it 'a den of robbers.'"
I will let each one of you reach your own conclusions regarding the Cuban pact and the role played by the Catholic church in this dark chapter of history. No matter which side of the issue you may elect to side with, there shall always be grounds for both sides to justify the arguments both for and against this pact; there shall always be grounds for both sides to seek righteousness and respect from each other for their positions, regardless. Only time and history shall be ultimate adjudicators of which truth shall prevail, and only God shall know which holds the greater truth of both - the one which asks us to just follow along trusting our faith in God's will, or...the one that reaches to our ability to forgive and forget in God's image. Time and time alone will tell. Meantime, may God save us all.
