Each year, the InterAmerican Committee – the Presidents and Directors of the religious conferences of Canada, South America, and the United States – meet to confer about issues of common concern and to explore ways of collaborating with and supporting each other.  This year’s meeting, from March 1 through 6, was held in Havana, Cuba.  Kathleen Pruitt, CSJP, Past-President, and Carole Shinnick, SSND, Executive Director represented the Leadership Conference of Women Religious at this meeting.

At last year's meeting in Montreal, the committee decided to gather in Cuba in 2003 as a way of showing solidarity with the religious of Cuba, and with the Church there.  The LCWR delegates traveled with the CMSM attendees under the auspices of Catholic Relief Services which sponsored a wide variety of services throughout Cuba.  The delegation from CMSM included Canice Connors, OFM, President, along with Ted Keating, SM, Executive Director, and Stan DeBoe, OSST, Justice and Peace Director.

Focus of the meeting
The major work of the InterAmerican meeting was preparing for the next InterAmerican Conference to be held in Brazil from May 6-9, 2004.  The event will be an opportunity to explore ways in which religious life in the Americas is dealing with contemporary challenges in the Church and in society. 

Cuba then and now
In 1959, Fidel Castro overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista who had been in power for two decades.  Castro, now in his mid-seventies, has been the head of the Cuban government ever since.  The government of the United States has supported an embargo of Cuba for almost 44 years, encouraged to a great extent by the Cuban Americans, particularly those living in Florida.  The embargo has done nothing to end Castro’s power, and has hurt the Cuban people greatly by preventing not only a normal exchange of goods and services, but isolating the people of Cuba from exposure to people of other countries, ideas, and information.

Although the United States continues its embargo, other countries travel freely to Cuba and tourism has become a source of one third of today’s Cuban economy.  People come from Europe, Canada, Mexico and South America to enjoy the lovely beaches of the island.  Despite the fact that the population of Cuba lives and works in extremely poor conditions, a great deal of money has been spent particularly in Havana in creating tourist areas complete with luxury hotels and restaurants.  Many Cubans work in the tourism industry, although their ability to interact with tourists is carefully controlled.  Nevertheless, the economy -  and indirectly the Cuban people have benefited.

The Church in Cuba
In our conversations with Cuban citizens, we learned how, after the fall of the Soviet Union upon whom Cuba had relied for a significant amount of financial assistance, the Cuban economy was seriously wounded.  Reluctantly realizing that it simply could not meet its people’s humanitarian needs, the government allowed Church groups to provide some limited social services.  It was at this time in Cuban history that Catholic Relief Services, among many groups, became established in the country.

The Church in Cuba was never suppressed, but it certainly was marginalized.  Despite many people’s impression that the visit of John Paul II to Cuba in 1998 made the Church once more part of the mainstream of Cuban culture, that is not truly the case.  For example, religious in Cuba are limited in their ministries to caring for retarded children and very elderly persons in order to control the influence they could have.  Nevertheless, the visible presence of religious in the country and in parishes has had a tremendously positive impact on the faithful who see them as a sign of hope and witness of a God who has not forgotten them.

During our visit we had the opportunity to meet with the Archbishop of Havana, Cardinal Jaime Ortega y Alamino, a very personable and engaging man, and the first cardinal named in Cuba since 1959.  He has just written and published a pastoral letter noting the 150th anniversary of the death of Father Felix Varela, a Cuban patriot and historical figure.  The title of his letter is “No Hay Patria Sin Virtud” or roughly translated, “There can be no mother country without virtue.”  In a non-confrontational way, Cardinal Alamino suggests that the current Cuban government needs to re-examine its relationship with the Catholic Church.

The spirit of the Cuban people
Our group also met with Oswaldo Paya, founder of the Christian Liberation Movement in Cuba, and recipient of the Sarkharov Award bestowed on him in 2002 by the European Parliament.  He spoke of the Varela Project, a petition signed by over 11,000 Cubans calling for a referendum on the current laws limiting freedom of expression in their country.

The people we met in Cuba were consistently friendly, curious, welcoming and sharing.  They showed no hostility to us as Americans despite the negative impact of our 44 year embargo.  They shared whatever they had – and they had very little – with grace and generosity.  We had the opportunity to visit with a wonderful woman who worked at the Catholic Relief Services office.  As our two hour visit came to a close we asked her what she wanted to say to us before we left.  Her answer brought tears to our eyes.  “Don’t forget us.  We are only a little island in the Caribbean, but don’t forget us.”

What can we do?
In the midst of the ongoing march to war in Iraq, it is easy to become pre-occupied with that crisis and forget other, less dramatic though very real international crises.  While Cuba does have a very good health care system which has increased the life expectancy, and while it also has an adequate public school system, it is truly in very bad economic shape.  The US embargo has taken a terrible toll and has been totally ineffective in removing the Castro regime.  Not only has it added to the economic problems of Cuba, but has also given Castro a universal reason for explaining every ill in Cuba, and has denied the Cuban people of exposure to contact with other cultures and ideas.  

LCWR members can continue to call on lawmakers to end the 44 year embargo, to normalize relations with the Cuban people even if our government disagrees with the Castro regime.  Nothing is being accomplished by its continuation, and it is the Cuban people who are daily hurt by our ineffective and outdated foreign policy.

                                                                    Carole Shinnick, SSND, Executive Director
 

For more pictures of this trip, check out 
the photo gallery of the LCWR website.

Systemic Change Think Tank VI

Thirty-three participants gathered with presenter Carol Zinn SSJ for Systemic Change Think Tank VI at the Franciscan Retreat Center in Tampa from February 9-11, 2003. The UN’s Earth Charter, with its numerous examples of ways to work toward systemic change, was the focal point. “Systemic change,” says Carol, “happens one relationship at a time. Globalization calls us to keep our feet on the micro- level and our head in the macro- or global arena – to be ‘glocal’ – global + local.”

Sessions were organized around three main topics, each of which included input, reflection, and dialogue with the goal of changing how a person both perceives and thinks about her actions:

 -  Peace on Earth: To work for a just world order, we gather as Peacemakers, attentive  
    and vulnerable.
 -  Peace with Earth: To work for a just world order, we gather as Peacebuilders, creative 
    and prophetic.
 -  Peace for Earth: To work for a just world order, we gather as Peacekeepers, steadfast 
    and relevant.

Stepping back to look at the big picture, i.e., our whole Earth gave participants a refreshing and challenging perspective.  Participants all felt strongly that they left the weekend changed, having rediscovered their relationship with the amazing, unfolding, and interconnected Earth.    
                                                                                           Ruthmary Powers, HM

Announcement

LCWR welcomes Annmarie Sanders, IHM, as Director of Communications. Annmarie is a member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Scranton, PA, and has a degree in Master of Arts in Public Communication from Fordham University and a Bachelor of Social Work from Marywood University. She has served as the IHM Director of Communications and Congregation Secretary for the past ten years. 

Before serving in this position, Annmarie was part of a formation team in Peru and speaks fluent Spanish. She is editor of Journey, an IHM publication, and has published articles in America, Review for Religious, Sisters Today, Vision Today, and Human Development. Her interest in Spanish and sacred dance has led her to teach Spanish to women religious in the Scranton area and give retreats on prayer and the arts. Annmarie will transition from her present position and begin full time at the national office sometime in May. 

We are blessed to have her on our staff in the National Office.  She brings a wealth of professional and personal gifts. Welcome, Annmarie!

For Your Information

CSRL - Becoming A Religious
The Center for The Study of Religious Life has published the third booklet in the Reflection & Dialogue series, Becoming A Religious: a process of lifelong transformation.  It encourages religious congregations or smaller groups to use the materials in the book to continue the dialogue on new membership and to send the results of the reflection to the Center.  Ongoing formation is key if communities are to continue to develop and open themselves to being transformed by the world, the Gospel and the presence of new members.  The report will assist leadership and their communities in examining their own process of integrating new members into their communities.  Copies are available for $7 each within the U.S. (plus shipping and handling) from the National Coalition for Church Vocations (NCCV), 5420 S. Cornell Ave., Chicago, IL 60604. Call 1-800-671-NCCV or e-mail nccv400@aol.com. Send results of your reflection to the Center for the Study of Religious Life, 5401 South Cornell Avenue, Chicago, IL 60615 or e-mail to csrl@visioni.com.

LRCR Pre-Assembly Program
The Legal Resource Center for Religious is presenting a workshop entitled “Sexual Abuse of Minors and Sexual Exploitation: An Update on Balancing the Legal, the Administrative and the Pastoral Roles and Obligations” August 20, 2003, at the Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center. Registration is at 8am and the program concludes at 5pm. Cost includes continental breakfast, lunch, breaks and materials. Presentations by Sharon Euart, RSM, JCD; Phyllis Willerschedit, MA; Dan Ward, OSB, JD, JCL; Judith Hereford, JD; David Kuhnn and Lynn Levo, CSJ, PhD. Cost is $150 for LRCR subscribers and $165 for non-subscribers. Look for brochure and additional information in weeks ahead or check www.LRCR.org.

LRCR Annual Legal Seminar
The annual Legal Seminar sponsored by the Legal Resource Center for Religious will be held in Milwaukee, WI on April 24-27, 2003. This year’s topic: Membership through the Prism of Law will examine the nature of the relationship between a member and the religious institute. Workshops will then explore how this relationship is played out in various civil and canon law contexts.

The seminar will be preceded by a one day workshop: Civil Law & Canon Law 101. This popular workshop is for those with little legal background who would like to learn the basics as they apply to religious life. It is a great preparation for the rest of the seminar, and an excellent primer for those new in leadership positions.