As a little boy, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Octavio Cisneros loved going to his grandmother’s house for Christmas, just like the popular holiday song “Over the River and Through the Woods.” But there was no “drifted snow,” because his grandmother lived on the outskirts of Havana, Cuba.
Father Félix Varela — the Cuban exile who 200 years ago landed in Manhattan to serve marginalized immigrants — received honors on Sept. 23 from the man who leads the national government and communist party of Cuba.
Pope Francis had a 40-minute private meeting at the Vatican with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel.
The Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph on Saturday, June 3, was nearly filled to capacity and swelled with joy during the ordinations of Ernesto Alonso, 44; Thimote Cherelus, 37; Nnamdi Eusebius Eze, 39; and Samuel Mwiwawi, 40.
When asked to assess religious freedom worldwide compared to a decade ago, Edward Clancy, the director of outreach for Aid to the Church in Need, doesn’t hesitate with his answer.
Ricardo E. Gonzalez Zayas was one of over 14,000 Cuban children who were part of “Operation Pedro Pan” — a secret, mass exodus to the U.S. via air between 1960-1962 from the newly created communist nation located just 90 miles from our Florida coast.
Pope Francis asked Cubans “to make present in their hearts” the actions and words of St. John Paul II during his visit to their nation 25 years ago to “give a new push to building the country’s future with hope and determination.”
Hurricane Ian made landfall Sept. 27 in Cuba’s western region of Pinar del Rio, with sustained winds of 125 mph that took down the entire island’s electric grid.
Cuban bishops and Pope Francis asked for prayers as a major fire has caused at least one death, more than 100 injuries and left 17 firefighters missing in Cuba.
When Pope John Paul II arrived for a six-day trip to Cuba on January 21, 1998, he closed his first address to the Cuban people with a historic message: “May Cuba, with all its magnificent potential, open itself to the world, and may the world open itself up to Cuba.”
