Church World Service and Denominations Protest Government Limits on Religious Freedom
NEW YORK, Mar. 16--Global humanitarian agency Church World Service yesterday led a delegation of religious leaders to a meeting in Washington, D.C., called by members of Congress, to press the demand that United States government agencies cease attempts to curtail religious freedom by imposing on national church agencies restrictive regulations on travel to Cuba for church work. Officials of the U.S. State and Treasury Departments listened to the concerns raised by members of Congress and the religious delegation.
The Rev. John McCullough, executive director of Church World Service, also sent letters to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Treasury Secretary John Snow. The letters, signed by 11 other heads of mainline protestant organizations, demanded an end to the restrictions.
The controversy centers on a decision by the state and treasury departments to stop issuing national church agencies and organizations general licenses to travel to Cuba for purposes of mission work. The government now is issuing new licenses that substantially restrict religious travel by denominations and religious organizations, while providing greater Cuba travel access to individual congregations.
Declaring that the group was "long past" the point of seeking an explanatio n for the government's actions, McCullough said, "We are dismayed, and even outraged at the loss of these licenses, and by what we view as unjustified interference in and hindrance of the mission of the church. We are asking for the rights of our churches and ecumenical organizations to continue our historic work in Cuba to be restored, protected and respected."
The restricted license limits religious travel to only one trip per quarter and requires applicants-like Church World Service, the Episcopal Church, The United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church USA, and others who have applied for and received these more restrictive licenses-- to list on the application the names of up to 25 people who will travel under the license.
Churches often do not know at the time of license application which church members will request travel during the year and say it is unrealistic to place a four-trip limit on denominational agencies representing millions of members.
Ecumenical agencies like Church World Service and the National Council of Churches are cooperative efforts representing nearly 40 large denominations and national denominational agencies represent tens of millions of members of local churches within their denominations.
Citing decades of missionary and humanitarian work in the island nation, McCullough said the mission of the church "has long transcended political ideologies and changes of government in Cuba, as well as in other parts of the world."
Since 2004, the current U.S. administration has taken a series of actions to limit travel to Cuba by Cuban-Americans wishing to visit family members, scientists, academic researchers, students, and now, national religious bodies.
"Our mission is clear: feed the hungry, care for the orphaned and widowed, comfort the sick, and visit the prisoners. We have long been a key expression of America's compassionate spirit and response during times when natural disasters have occurred. We helped found new faith communitie s, some of which are extensions of American denominations. We are not apologetic. This is our mission," said McCullough in a statement delivered at the meeting.
Following the meeting, delegation member the Rev. Dr. Tony Kireopoulos, National Council of Churches associate general secretary for international affairs and peace, focused on the need for follow-up. "The meeting was quite encouraging, in that officials from the State Department and the Treasury Department were able to hear why churches representing millions of US citizens are concerned about these misplaced restrictions on religious practice. While we may disagree with the policy itself, it is nonetheless a fact that the current regulations negatively impact the mission of our churches and that is unacceptable to us. I think the officials with whom we met understood that but we will continue to inform our churches about these new restrictions and advocate for them to be changed," Kireopoulos said.
In the letters sent to Rice and Snow, McCullough and other religious leaders together raised their voices in a call for the administration to restore the general licenses previously held by ecumenical agencies and national denominational agencies. They insisted that the new policy impedes the ability of local congregations to engage in mission work in Cuba through their national agencies and makes it nearly impossible for U.S. church leaders to bring Cuban church leaders here.
Other signatories to the letters are the Rev. Robert Edgar, general secretary, National Council of Churches; The Most Reverend Frank T. Griswold, Presiding Bishop and Primate, The Episcopal Church; the Reverend Mark S. Hanson, Presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; the Reverend Dr. Stan Hastey, Executive Director, Alliance for Baptists; the Reverend Dr. M.L. Jemison, President, Progressive National Baptist Convention; the Reverend Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); the Reverend A. Roy Medley, General Secretary, American Baptist Churches USA; the Reverend Larry D. Pickens, General Secretary, General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, The United Methodist Church; the Reverend Cally Rogers-Witte, President, Wider Church Ministries, United Church of Christ; Reverend Dr. Tyrone Pitts, General Secretary, Progressive National Baptist Convention; and the Reverend David A. Vargas, President, Division of Overseas Ministries, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
The meeting with Stephen McFarland, coordinator of the State Department Office of Cuban Affairs and Barbara Hammerle, acting director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, was convened by lawmakers concerned about the government restrictions. It was held in a meeting room in the Cannon House Office Building and attended by Reps. McGovern, Barbara Lee (D-CA); Jeff Flake (R-AZ); Bill Delahunt (D-MA); and Maxine Waters (D-CA).
Other members of the religious delegation included Martin Shupack and the Rev. Richard Williams, Church World Service; the Rev. Raquel Rodriguez, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; the rev. Tricia Lloyd-Sidle, Presbyterian Church USA; the Rev. Dr. Stan Hastey, Alliance of Baptists; the Rev. Felix Ortiz-Cotto, United Church of Christ and disciples of Christ; the Rev. Jorge Domingues and Jerald McKie, United Methodist Board of Global Ministries; the Rev. Dr. Earl Trent Jr., Progressive National Baptist Convention; and resource people from the Washington, DC-based Latin America Working Group.
Media Contacts
Lesley Crosson, (212) 870-2676, lcrosson@churchworldservice.org Jan Dragin - 24/7 - (781) 925-1526, jdragin@gis.net
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