Cold War Over in Cuba? Let's Hope

For those of you who know me, you know that Cuba has been in my heart for nearly 30 years. I first traveled there in 1985 during my last year of college and spent a year at the seminary in Matanzas (two hours east of Havana) from 1986-87. My son Will was a YASC volunteer for the Episcopal Church for a year in 2013-14. I led a group last January for the Episcopal Church Foundation and will lead 17 from New Hampshire in March. We received a grant from Diocese of New Hampshire to bring water filtrations systems to the Cuban church that will provide safe drinking water for the people. 

The news yesterday that the U.S. plans to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba is long overdue. I thank God for this development. Our five decades long policy of isolation, in my opinion, has not worked. If we can trade with China and Vietnam, we should trade with Cuba. We should be able to travel to Cuba freely. The Episcopal Church at its General Conventions has repeatedly called for the end of U.S. economic sanctions against Cuba for humanitarian reasons. 

I believe closer ties with Cuba will slowly bring the Cuban people into the larger world community. Yet this will not happen overnight. There are risks in change that comes too quickly -- many people without power or resources in Cuba could quickly be left behind. Post-Soviet Russia is a case in point. 

My hope is that closer ties will also lift the faithful witness of so many Cuban Christians. I have high regard for many of my Cuban clergy colleagues who have had multiple opportunities to flee the island over the years but who have remained to tend the flock. The church is a powerful witness for hope on the island. 

Please continue to pray for the Cuban people during this time of transition. Blessings to Pope Francis for doing what he could to further this reconciliation of nations. Thank you President Obama for taking this political risk. 

Christmas in Havana: may it be truly bright and filled with hope this year!

Mark+ 

Worshipping in a small Cuban church January, 2014 (Leslie Pendleton on the left) The faithful worship in the one-time sacristy of the church. The church collapsed in a hurricane decades ago) 

Coventry's Cross of Nails in the Episcopal Cathedral in Havana. Many prayers for reconciliation have been offered over the years.  (I started the CCN chapter in Havana in 1986) 

Pendleton family on famous Varadero Beach, Cuba January 2014