wfn.org | NCCCUSA/Campbell On Cuban Celebration

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org (CAROL FOUKE)]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Contact: NCC News, 212-870-2227
Email: news@ncccusa.org   Web: www.ncccusa.org

76NCC6/25/99 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CUBAN PROTESTANT CELEBRATION "VERY SUCCESSFUL," CAMPBELL SAYS

 June 25, 1999, NEW YORK CITY - Sunday's ecumenical Protestant 
celebration in Havana's Revolution Square was "very successful and a very 
strong witness to their belief in Jesus Christ," commented the Rev. Dr. 
Joan B. Campbell, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches 
and among speakers at the June 20 event.

 Dr. Campbell, who led a 20-member NCC delegation, was cheered and 
applauded by Sunday's crowd when she said it was time for the United 
States to end its embargo against Cuba and asked Cubans' forgiveness for 
the suffering the embargo has created.

 "For Christians, there are no embargos, no barriers," she told the 
crowd, put at 100,000 in several estimates.  "We find a way to talk to 
each other across all the divisions our governments create for us."

 Those assembled Sunday included Cuba's President Fidel Castro along 
with several members of his cabinet.  President Castro "sat, listened, 
never spoke," Dr. Campbell said.  "He didn't ask to speak and didn't 
consider it proper.  His respect was very apparent."

 People from all over Cuba streamed into Revolution Square from all 
directions, carrying signs that said "Jesus Lives," "Justice, Peace and 
Unity" and "Let There Be Peace."  The tightly choreographed, three-hour 
celebration included hymns, prayers, a 45-minute sermon, a dramatic 
interpretation of Scripture, an orchestra, ballet and special music in 
styles from rap to classical.

 Back in the United States, Dr. Campbell commented that her message - 
a decades-old one from the National Council of Churches - "certainly puts 
us publicly asking that the embargo be ended and tying it to a moral 
concern by saying it in an assembly where Cuba was showing it does allow 
people to express their faith freely."

 The June 20 celebration in Havana marked the conclusion of a month-
long celebration that included dozens of national, provincial, municipal 
and local church activities across Cuba.

For Cuban Protestants ("evangelicals"), "it was the very first time 
since the Revolution that they had such a public display of their faith," 
Dr. Campbell said.  Forty-nine denominations participated.  While no 
Roman Catholic hierarchs spoke or made themselves known, "I have no doubt 
but that there were Roman Catholic faithful in the audience," she said.

 According to the Cuban Council of Churches Studies Center, 300,000 
Protestants and 280,000 Roman Catholics worship regularly in Cuba (1998). 
The Cuban Council of Churches' member churches, some of which are more 
than 100 years old, are deeply rooted in Cuban society. The Methodist 
Church in Cuba has tripled its membership in the past five years, the 
Presbyterian Church in Cuba is among the fastest growing Presbyterian 
churches in the world. 

 While in Havana, several members of the NCC delegation visited a 
tuition-free medical school that accommodates 1,700 students from across 
Latin America, and a hospital that specializes in problem pregnancy care 
and in reconstructive surgery - but has no x-ray machine.

"The evangelical churches in Cuba have, for a long time, nourished 
the dream of celebrating a great Evangelical event in which all 
Evangelical churches could come together," according to a statement from 
the Cuban Council of Churches. "Never before had they the conditions and 
the possibilities to make this dream to become true. It is, precisely, 
now when they feel themselves capable to undertake this adventure of 
faith. Not with the purpose of proselytism, but with the aim of promoting 
Love, Peace and Unity among the Evangelicals in Cuba and among the whole 
Cuban people .. (T)he events will be open to the general audience, to all 
persons which will be interested to listen the preaching of the Gospel, 
belonging or not to any religious denomination."

The (U.S.) National Council of Churches delegation was led by the 
Rev. Dr. Joan B. Campbell, General Secretary, and included delegates from 
the United Methodist Church, Church of the Brethren, African Methodist 
Episcopal Church, United Church of Christ/Christian Church (Disciples of 
Christ), Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Progressive National 
Baptist Convention, and from the Christian Council of Metropolitan 
Atlanta. Delegates' "hometowns" include New York City; Washington, D.C.; 
Manchester, Ind.; Atlanta; Bethany, Okla.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Estancia, 
N.M.; Southfield, Mich.; Corpus Christi, Texas; Beverly, Ky.; Aloha, 
Ore.; Van Nuys, Calif.; Bozeman, Mt.; and Indianapolis, Ind.

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