wfn.org | NCC Delegation Says U.S.-Cuba Contacts Important in Tense Times

["Carol Fouke" <carolf@ncccusa.org>]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

In Tense Times, Contacts Are All the More Important, Concludes NCC
Delegation to Cuba

February 9, 2004, NEW YORK CITY - Participants in a U.S. ecumenical
delegation visit to Cuba in late January returned convinced of the
importance of maintaining contacts with churches there, especially at this
time of heightened tension between the United States and Cuba.  For their
part, Cuban church leaders asked their U.S. counterparts for pastoral
accompaniment and prayers.

Led by National Council of Churches General Secretary Bob Edgar, a United
Methodist, the 30-member delegation spent Jan. 22-28 in Cuba.  Delegation
members participated in events surrounding the consecration of the new Greek
Orthodox Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Old Havana - a celebration led by
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the worlds 250
million Orthodox Christians.

They also met with Cuban and other Caribbean and Latin American church
leaders for consultation on shared concerns, building on relationships that
have been maintained since before the Cuban Revolution.  They heard their
Cuban counterparts accounts of the ongoing hardships caused by the
U.S.-imposed trade embargo and travel restrictions, and the anxieties raised
by a rise in aggressive rhetoric on the part of the United States.

Noting U.S. and Cuban churches long years of work together for a
normalization of relations between their two countries and on
church-to-church issues and joint humanitarian projects, Dr. Edgar
reflected, You dont have to love Fidel Castro to love the people of Cuba,
and you dont have to love the governments way of operating to see that
there are needs in Cuba.

There is real poverty in Cuba, and that doesnt have to exist, he said.
If the United States changed its attitude toward that nation and gave it
support rather than hostility, the quality of life for the people who live
in Cuba could be improved.  The Soviet Union changed because of the exchange
of people and ideas, and I think the same will happen in Cuba.

NCC delegation members were among the some 2,000 people who came from around
the world for the consecration of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St.
Nicholas in Old Havana, the first new church to be constructed in Cuba in
more than 40 years.   They were able to meet with the Ecumenical Patriarch
to talk about the consecration and such critical issues as religious
extremism and terrorism around the world.

Commented Debbie Hadjes Funti, a Greek Orthodox laywoman from New Orleans
and NCC General Assembly delegate for the past eight years, The opening of
the new church was a historical moment for all Christians in Cuba.
Billboards all over Havana welcomed the Ecumenical Patriarch to Cuba, and
President Castro and other Cuban government officials were present for the
consecration and related events.

Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, an Orthodox Christian who is the NCCs Associate
General Secretary for International Affairs, observed, Given the tensions
that historically have characterized relations between religion and state in
Cuba, for the church to be so publicly welcomed has to bode well for the
future of religious freedom and practice there.

CONCERN FOR DETAINED DISSIDENTS ADDRESSED TO PRESIDENT CASTRO

In a Nov. 21, 2003, letter to Cuban President Fidel Castro announcing the
forthcoming ecumenical delegation visit, the NCC expressed its humanitarian
concern about the lengthy sentences given 75 Cuban dissidents in spring
2003.  Dr. Edgar framed the concern in the context of the NCCs more than 40
years of work to improve relations between the United States and Cuba, and
sought a meeting for the delegation with President Castro to discuss the
matter.

In the letter, Dr. Edgar had urged President Castro to reduce the dissidents
 sentences greatly or free them as a sign of good will and desire to work
toward reconciliation.  Dr. Edgar said he had hoped such a sign of good
will could have taken place in light of the Patriarchs visit.  However,
there was no reply from President Castro, and no meeting took place.

Said NCC General Secretary Edgar, With Pope John Paul IIs visit to Cuba in
1998, great change took place.  With the public ecumenical Protestant
celebration in 1999, great change took place.  And now with the Ecumenical
Patriarchs visit, its an opportunity for great change to take place.

MEETING WITH DENOMINATIONAL AND ECUMENICAL COUNTERPARTS

The NCC delegation spent Jan. 26-28 in a region-wide consultation hosted by
the Cuban Council of Churches, focused on shared pastoral concerns of the
church in the context of current U.S.-Latin American relations.  Cuban and
U.S. church leaders were joined by other Latin American and Caribbean church
leaders for the consultation, which sought to develop plans for
collaboration in mission and to seek ways to improve relations among their
countries.

The Rev. Carlos Kamps, General Secretary of the Reformed Presbyterian Church
in Cuba and a member of the Executive Council of the Latin American Council
of Churches, said, The gathering was the result of an invitation to
accompany our churches and people in a moment of crisis in our homeland,
which is happening as a result of the worlds worsening political and
economic situation.  But a crisis also brings new opportunities.

He told the U.S. church leaders that Cubas churches need their pastoral
accompaniment and prayers, and expressed appreciation that the churches
that have always been present with us remain at our side.  The NCC has
responded as it always has, willing to help the Cuban people.

The Rev. Kamps continued, The Cuban church is  a mature church.  We are a
church that has passed through a period when we at times had to walk alone,
a period that we viewed as passing through the desert.  But now our churches
are full, people are coming to the church, theres a big awakening. God has
given us this grace, this sign.  We know what we need to do.  And we need
accompaniment from the other churches in that process.

NCC delegation members said they appreciated the opportunity to visit Cuba.
Bishop C. Christopher Epting, Ecumenical Officer for The Episcopal Church,
New York City, said, The meeting was an opportunity for us to at least see
a glimpse of the Cuban reality through the eyes of the Cuban church.

Said Ms Hadjes, The most important task for us in the States is to start to
understand the truth about Cuba, what the churches are doing here, what life
is like in Cuba.  Most of my views and perspectives have been shaped by
media and government sound bites, she said, and my life is busy in other
directions, and Cuba wasnt really something I was paying attention to.  But
from now on I will be paying attention.

NCC DELEGATION MEMBERS

Heads of Communion who took part in the delegation were: The Rev. Clifton
Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk, Presbyterian Church (USA), Louisville, Ky.; Dr.
Major Jemison, President, Progressive National Baptist Convention, Oklahoma
City, Okla.; the Rev. Chris Hobgood, General Minister and President,
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Indianapolis, Ind., and Washington,
D.C.; Bishop Serapion of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Los Angeles, Calif.,
and Presiding Bishop George Walker of the African Methodist Episcopal
Church, Hartford, Ct.

Other church representatives included Bishop Dimitrios, from
Greenville/Spartanburg, S.C., Ecumenical Officer, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese
of America, headquartered in New York City; the Rev. Martin Ritsi, St.
Augustine, Fla., Executive Director, Orthodox Christian Mission Center,
Eastern Orthodox; the Rev. Dr. Tyrone Pitts, General Secretary, Progressive
National Baptist Convention, Washington, D.C.; the Rev. Jhonny Alicea Baez,
Latin America Desk, Reformed Church in America, Murrieta, Calif.; Bishop C.
Christopher Epting, Ecumenical Officer, The Episcopal Church, New York City,

 From state councils of churches: the Rev. John Boonstra, Washington
American and Caribbean Relations of the NCC, also represented the Florida
with Richard Cline, Director of Refugees, Virginia Council of Churches,
Richmond, Va., an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of
Association of Churches, Seattle, Wash., a United Church of Christ minister;
Christ). The Rev. Fred Morris, a United Methodist who is Director for Latin
the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the Rev. David Anderson, Illinois
Catholic who lives in New York City.
Council of Churches. The delegation also included the CWS Executive
Associate for Latin America and the Caribbean, Martin Coria, a Roman
Director, the Rev. John L. McCullough, of Montclair, N.J., and the CWS
Conference of Churches, Springfield, Ill. -- all executive directors, along
David Leslie, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, Portland, Ore., a member of

Others traveling included Steve Horswill-Johnston, United Methodist
Communications, Nashville, Tenn.; Geoff Thale, Washington Office on Latin
America, Washington, D.C.; James Armstrong, Rollins College, and his wife,
Sharon, Orlando, Fla.; Harry Fielding, Community of Christ Church, Orlando,
Fla.; Anthropologist Dr. Sidney Greenfield and his wife, Eleanor, New York,
N.Y.; Debbie Hadjes Funti, a long-time Greek Orthodox delegate to the NCC
General Assembly, New Orleans, La.; United Methodist Stanley Campbell,
Rockford, Ill., Urban Ministries, the Rev. Susanne Watson Epting, The
Episcopal Church, Executive Director of the North American Association for
the Diaconate, New York City; Joann McCullough (the Rev. McCulloughs wife);
Seyeon Boonstra Malott (the Rev. Boonstras daughter); the Rev. Felix
Ortiz-Cotto, Executive for Latin America and the Caribbean for the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ), Indianapolis, Ind., and John Wallace,
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Indianapolis, Ind.   Dr. Edgar and
Dr. Kireopoulos work at the NCCs New York City headquarters.

-end-

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