Cuban Christians are calling on the international community to intervene to “Put an end to the harassment and restrictions on religious freedom” in the country.
Newsroom(21/05/2025 15:18, Gaudium Press) At a recent meeting in Camagüey, the Alliance of Christians in Cuba (ACC) warned of the deep crisis shaking the country. In a joint statement signed by 63 members of the ACC, Cuban Christians denounced “an unprecedented political, economic, social and spiritual crisis”.
Declaration by the Cuban Christian Alliance
“The Alliance of Christians of Cuba, meeting in the city of Camagüey and with the presence of a group of pastors from the local churches of this city as witnesses, addresses public opinion, as well as the international institutions that watch over the fulfillment and defense of Human Rights.
“The deep political, economic, social and spiritual crisis in which our nation is immersed is a sad reality. A situation that affects and oppresses millions of compatriots.
“According to the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights, 89% of Cuban families living in our country currently survive in extreme poverty. And equally regrettable is the fact that there is no government plan in sight to improve the quality of life of our people, who seem condemned to resist and survive.
“But, as we have said, the crisis is not just economic. We are also seeing a growing repression of the exercise of rights, with the existence of at least 762 political prisoners and prisoners of conscience being the most painful example – not the only one – of such injustice.
“We are also particularly concerned about the growing levels of violence affecting our neighbourhoods and the rampant robberies, homicides, murders of women, prostitution, drugs and corruption.
“In this context, where people most need their churches and pastors, religious freedom continues to be seriously affected, in total contradiction to the proclaimed secular character of the Cuban state.
“No local church has the right to legal personality, since only the Religious and Fraternal Associations that existed before 1962 are legally registered, and more than 80% of local churches, the denominations to which they are linked and the ministries and fraternities that articulate them are deprived of legal personality and the rights, duties and obligations that derive from them.
“The confiscation of property, the demolition of places of worship, the threats, the regulation of travel for religious leaders, the restrictions on imports, the obstacles to a total social aid service, the prohibitions or impediments to accompanying and comforting our suffering people in hospitals, in homes for the elderly and orphanages, prisons, schools, institutes, universities, sports teams, the army and many other measures are proof of this; and many other measures, are proof of the opposition, confrontation and persecution that the Cuban church is currently suffering, reaching the alarming figure of 996 repressive actions registered and denounced in the last year of 2024 against religious leaders, without there being a change in the monthly percentage of 2025.
“We call on international institutions and democratic governments to urge the Cuban authorities to put an end to the harassment and limitations of religious freedoms in the country.
“We also reiterate the need for our churches and religious movements to have their legal personality recognized.
“When we ask for this, it is not for our own benefit, but for the benefit of the Cuban people, who need the pastoral, prophetic and welfare work of our churches.”
In fact, the strategy used by the communist dictators of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to persecute the Church is the same…
With information from Observatorio Cubano de Derechos Humanos.
Compiled by Teresa Joseph
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