Letter
Letter on New Policies lifting Some Restrictions, January 19, 2011
Letter from Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, Chairman, Committee on International Justice and Peace on New Policies lifting Some Restrictions, January 19, 2011
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) welcomes President Obama’s statement directing the Secretaries of State, Treasury, and Homeland Security to implement policies allowing purposeful and people-to-people travel to Cuba and allowing all Americans to send financial support to the Cuban people. These needed new policies are modest but important steps toward advancing our hopes for a better relationship between our people and the people of Cuba, a relationship which holds great promise of fostering positive and real change in Cuba.
We urge that the new rules permit many of our parishes and other religious groups to share their faith and solidarity with our Cuban brothers and sisters. Hopefully, they will also offer opportunities for students and faculty at Catholic colleges and universities and other academic institutions to learn directly about the realities of life in Cuba and Cuban culture and society. These would be significant steps forward.
The Church in our country and in Cuba has long maintained that greater, rather than less, engagement with Cuba can bring about positive change in that country. The call of the Church in Cuba has always been one for dialogue—genuine and open dialogue within Cuba and dialogue between Cuba and the outside world. The U.S. bishops continue to call for purposeful engagement rather than ineffective isolation. For many years our Conference has continuously called on the President and the Congress of the United States to remove restrictions on remittances and travel to Cuba. Therefore, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops welcomes these very useful and positive new policies.