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Orthodox Church leader calls US embargo of Cuba a "historical mistake"

HAVANA, 25 (AFP) - The leader of the Orthodox Church branded the US embargo of Cuba a "historic mistake" in a sermon Sunday during the full pomp inauguration of a new cathedral in Havana with President Fidel Castro in attendance.

Bartholomew I, the Orthodox ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, made the statement during a sermon that formed part of the five-hour ceremony to consecrate the tiny San Nicolas Cathedral in the Cuban capital.

"The blockading of peoples and countries by society in general from other nations on earth is a historic mistake," said the patriarch, who is spiritual leader of the 300 million strong orthodox community worldwide.

"And the problems between nations and countries, like those between people, are resolved through dialogue," he added.

The ceremony began at 9:10 am (1410 GMT) Sunday in the former basilica of San Francisco, now home to Cuba's only Orthodox cathedral.

After an hour of hymns, the patriarch put on new robes and led a procession some 120 meters (395 feet) through the San Francisco Square and into the cathedral, which seats 50 people.

Castro, who had donned a formal gray suit for the occasion, met Bartholomew I in the cathedral entrance. The patriarch gave the Cuban leader his hand, exchanging a few words with Castro.

Also in attendance was Cuban National Assembly Speaker Felipe Perez Roque, and the historian of Havana, Eusebio Leal, who is considered the fomentor of the visit.

Immediately afterwards, the patriarch continued with the ceremony, proceeding in procession three times around the cathedral as part of a purification ritual.

Leal, in the name of the Cuban government, thanked the patriarch for his act consecrating the cathedral which in Cuba setting up the Orthodox sanctuary represented "a symbol of friendship and devotion ... to you and to the (Orthodox) church".

During his sermon, while still outside the cathedral, the patriarch qualified sanctions against Cuba as a "historic mistake".

He said the Orthodox Church had come to the island "to speak frankly" of that error. The patriarch added that the solution to such differences came only "through communication, such as through faithful mediation."

The United States has enforced an economic embargo against Cuba since 1961.

The patriarch also underlined the need for free public worship in Cuba.

"We hope to see in the future new temples given over to public worship. The free expression of religion faith constitutes a basic human right," he said.

Bartholomew I's speech came exactly six years after a visit to the communist island by Pope John Paul II, head of the Roman Catholic church.

On January 25, 1998, the pope called on the world to open up to Cuba, and for Cuba to open up to the world.

After the sermon, Castro handed over the keys of the cathedral to the patriarch, who awarded the Cuban leader with a St Andrew's cross, symbolizing "justice and strength".

National Council of Churches to send delegation to Cuba

NEW YORK, 27 (AFP) - A delegation of the US National Council of Churches left for Cuba on a six-day visit.

The trip includes consultations with Cuban churches, celebration of the consecration of a Greek Orthodox cathedral in Havana, and possibly a meeting with President Fidel Castro on political dissidents, the council said.

The NCC, in the requested meeting with Castro, which was not yet confirmed, said it was "hoping to discuss church concerns and issues pertaining to US-Cuban relations, including the harsh sentences imposed on 75 dissidents by Cuba's courts in spring 2003.

"From a moral standpoint, this issue is of crucial interest to the National Council of Churches," it said in a statement. "We find the sentences excessive."

It said this would be the NCC's third appeal to the Cuban government on the arrest, trial and sentencing of the dissidents to prison of from six to 28 years, sentences the US government has vocally condemned.

Orthodox patriarch dines with Castro

HAVANA, 24 (AFP) - Bartholomew I, the visiting Orthodox ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople and spiritual leader of the 300 million strong orthodox community worldwide, met with Cuban President Fidel Castro but snubbed a US reception that included Cuban dissidents.

Bartholomew I, Castro, and 23 others dined late Friday at Havana's posh landmark Hotel Nacional, said Benjamin Leavenworth, spokesman for the Orthodox patriarch.

"It was an extremely successful dinner," he told AFP, without elaborating.

On Saturday, Oswaldo Paya, leader of the banned dissident Christian Freedom Movement, issued a statement saying that those "wanting to be respectful and ive of the Cuban people" should "peaceful democratic change, referendum and dialogue, liberation of political prisoners, raise their voice and pray for our silent people, and not lose hope."

The statement was handed to Orthodox Archbishop Dimitrios of New York -- who traveled to Cuba for Bartholomew's visit -- at a reception at the residence of the US representative in Havana, James Cason.

Cason's event was attended by several dissidents, spouses of jailed dissidents, foreign diplomats and a delegation of Greek Americans.

Bartholomew I and his entourage, invited and expected to attend the reception, did not show up.

A US diplomat said the Orthodox patriarch excused himself "at the last minute," adding that his absence represented "a lost opportunity," although he declined to speculate on the reasons.

Bob Edgar, secretary general of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States, told reporters after he met with the Orthodox patriarch on Friday that he hoped to meet with Castro himself to voice concern about the fate of 75 dissidents rounded up in April in the biggest government crackdown in years.

The dissidents were sentenced to lengthy prison and the crackdown sparked an international outcry.

Edgar said he did not want to tell the communist Cuban government what to do, but that he hoped comion would be shown the dissidents whether with releases or reduced sentences.

On Friday, the patriarch of Constantinople consecrated the Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Havana, built especially by the Cuban government "as an offering from the Cuban people" to the Orthodox Church.

The Cuban Orthodox community has 2,000 to 3,000 , mostly of Slavic, Russian and Ukrainian origin.

Castro Consecrating Gov't-Built Church

By ANITA SNOW, Associated Press Writer

HAVANA, 25 - Communist Cuba rolled out the red carpet for the spiritual leader of the world's 300 million Orthodox Christians who was visiting the island at the invitation of President Fidel Castro to consecrate a Byzantine cathedral.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, head of the Greek Orthodox church and leader of the world's 14 Orthodox patriarchs, was to consecrate the St. Nicholas cathedral Sunday morning in Old Havana.

It was unclear why President Fidel Castro agreed to finance the church's construction, but Cuban authorities have been trying to demonstrate that the communist government respects freedom of worship.

They took issue last month with the findings of a U.S. State Department report that said surveillance, infiltration and harassment of religious groups is still common on the island.

While Cuba became officially atheist in the years after the 1959 revolution that brought Castro to power, the government removed references to atheism in the constitution more than a decade ago and allowed religious believers to the Communist Party.

Before that, religious faithful struggled under a system that discouraged worship, but never prohibited it. Believers were barred from important jobs and viewed with suspicion by officials who oversaw most aspects of life.

Castro, who personally invited Bartholomew to Cuba to consecrate the new sanctuary, was expected to attend the lengthy ceremony. Castro is said to ire Bartholomew's opposition to war and of the environment.

Also invited to the ceremony were more than 500 Greek-Americans, as well as Orthodox church from Greece, Turkey and other nations.

The church was the brainchild of Metropolitan Athenagoras, the Greek Orthodox archbishop for Central America and the Caribbean, and Havana City Historian Eusebio Leal.

Relations between churches and the Cuban state reached their high point in January 1998, when Roman Catholic Pope John Paul II made a historic visit here.

While he spoke out against the American trade embargo, the pope also called for a greater opening in society and the release of hundreds of prisoners. The Cuban government a month later released 299 prisoners at the pope's request.

Invited here personally by Castro, Bartholomew has steered away from politics during his stay.

However, he did speak out Saturday against the U.S. embargo, saying Cuba has "the right to breathe freely both inside the country and abroad, in its commercial relations, in its cultural relations."

American officials here were disappointed when he failed to show at a Saturday night reception at the home of U.S. Interests Section Chief James Cason, whose guests also included a number of vocal Castro opponents.

They said they scheduled the reception around his other activities, and that the patriarch's delegation had indicated he would attend.

Archbishop Demetrios, who represents Greek Orthodox Christians in the United States, said the patriarch was unable to attend because of other commitments.

Cuba's best-known activist, Oswaldo Paya, spoke with Demetrios at the American reception and gave him a statement to be delivered to the patriarch, asking for his blessing and expressing the hopes of the island's political opponents.

"We want peace, we want reconciliation, we want and we can undertake our own Cuban project of justice and democracy - but with the liberty Our Lord God has given us," wrote Paya, a devout Roman Catholic. "We did not come into this world to adore one man and submit ourselves to a party.

"They say 'socialism or death,'" he wrote, referring to a popular Communist Party slogan. "But we say liberty and life."

Paya is the top organizer of the Varela Project, a signature gathering drive that seeks deep changes in the island's socialist system. The Cuban government has rejected the Varela Project proposals, saying they are unconstitutional.

The new cathedral will be used by the island's estimated 2,000 Orthodox Christians. Church include diplomats and foreign businesspeople from countries such as Greece and Turkey, and people who immigrated here during the Soviet era.

Orthodox Christian Leader Visits Cuba

By ANITA SNOW, Associated Press Writer

HAVANA, 22 - Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the world's 300 million Orthodox Christians, met with Cuban President Fidel Castro during his mission to consecrate a new cathedral built by the island's communist government.

Bartholomew, dressed in his traditional black robes and veiled cap and carrying his patriarchal staff, was greeted with Greek hymns and bouquets of roses Wednesday night as he became the first Christian Orthodox patriarch to visit Latin America.

Castro, wearing an olive green uniform, greeted the bearded patriarch at the bottom of the plane's steps after the long flight from Istanbul, Turkey. The two men walked down a red carpet, greeting diplomats, Cuban officials, local Orthodox Christian leaders and representatives of Cuba's Roman Catholic and Protestant churches.

The patriarch and the president also greeted a small group of children dressed in white, who gave them bouquets of roses. A choir sang sacred songs in liturgical Greek.

After posing briefly for news photographers and television cameramen, the pair entered a black Mercedes Benz sedan for the trip to the Palace of the Revolution, where Castro staged a formal welcoming ceremony.

On Thursday, the visit continued with Bartholomew inaugurating an exhibit of photographs in the morning and giving a talk on the environment in the afternoon. He is known as the "Green Patriarch" for his strong interest in ecology.

The patriarch was scheduled to attend a concert of Greek music Thursday evening.

On Sunday, the patriarch will consecrate the new St. Nicholas cathedral, which Castro's government built as a gift to Orthodox Christians.

Greek Orthodox officials said it was the first new church of any faith to be built on the Caribbean island during Castro's 45-year rule.

"It is with much respect that we receive the patriarch, whose visit constitutes a gesture of friendship toward Cuba," Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said.

Perez Roque said the visit would show the world "that in Cuba there is freedom to express religion, a faith, and there is a commitment by the government to that right."

Cuban officials take issue with a U.S. State Department report issued last month that said surveillance, infiltration and harassment of religious groups is common on the island.

While Cuba became officially atheist in the years after the 1959 revolution that brought Castro to power, the government removed references to atheism in the constitution more than a decade ago and allowed religious believers to the Communist Party.

Before that, religious believers struggled under a system that discouraged - but never outright prohibited - religious worship. Believers were barred from important jobs and viewed with suspicion by officials who oversaw most aspects of life.

Relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the government warmed in early 1998 with the visit by Pope John Paul (news - web sites) II. But Cuba's Catholic leaders continue pushing for the right to open parochial schools for children and access to state-controlled media.

Bartholomew is the patriarch of Greek Orthodox Christians and considered "first among equals" of 14 patriarchs representing Orthodox Christian congregations in eastern Europe and the Middle East, including Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Syria and Iraq.

The Orthodox faith is little known in Cuba, as well as the rest of Latin America, where Roman Catholicism has long been the dominant church.

Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism split nearly a millennium ago over questions of theology and papal authority.

Featuring traditional Orthodox mosaics and icons of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and numerous saints, the new sanctuary of cream-colored stone with red brick trim was built alongside the Roman Catholic San Francisco Basilica in Old Havana.

It will be used by the island's estimated 2,000 Orthodox Christians, who include diplomats and foreign business people from countries such as Greece and Turkey, and people who immigrated here before the fall of communism in former Soviet states and Eastern European countries including Russia, Ukraine and Bulgaria.

Neither the Cuban government nor church officials have said how much it cost.

An estimated 500 Greek-Americans are expected in Cuba for the consecration, along with scores more Orthodox faithful from around the region, said Metropolitan Athenagoras, the Greek Orthodox archbishop for Central America, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, Panama, Colombia and Venezuela.

The patriarch's visit coincides with a trip here by the National Council of Churches U.S.A., which represents many mainline American Christian groups.

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