Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino maintains a stable state of health

July 10, 2019

In the morning yesterday, the Archbishop of Havana, Monsignor Juan de la Caridad García Rodríguez, issued a new statement offering updates on the health status of Monsignor Jaime Cardinal Ortega, who remains stable and has even participated in holy mass.

Through an official letter published on the Facebook page of the magazine "Palabra Nueva," of the Archdiocese of Havana, García once again speaks out to keep the faithful informed of Cardinal Ortega's current condition, who in recent weeks has been in delicate medical condition due to terminal stage pancreatic cancer.

"After having clinically evaluated Cardinal Jaime Ortega, a team of specialists considers that he is stable, having not suffered considerable modifications in his current state," wrote the archbishop.

According to what García Rodríguez explained, Ortega remains "stable" and participated in mass, as has been his custom throughout his life and which he has not stopped doing during his illness.

"He has participated in Mass and has received the Body of Christ, as has been customary on all days of his illness. The cardinal is grateful for the prayers of the countless people who pray for him," reads the brief document.

On July 5th, a document similar to this one was issued by the Archbishopric of Havana after a large number of rumors related to the alleged death of Cardinal Jaime Ortega were spread through different social networks.

The statement clarified that the prelate was "stable in the clinical order," and that his pathological condition remained without "any modification"; also noting that "his prognosis is always reserved."

During the month of June, the parish community of San Antonio María Claret of Santiago de Cuba confirmed that Cardinal Ortega Alamino is suffering from a complicated clinical condition caused by terminal stage cancer, and that at that time he was unconscious.

Prior to this news, the Catholic Church on the Island had decided to honor Cardinal Ortega in a tribute in which he was awarded the Distinction Monsignor Carlos Manuel de Céspedes by the Culture Commission of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba.

Jaime Cardinal Ortega Alamino has been one of the most prominent representatives of the Catholic Church in Cuba in recent decades and through the exercise of his pastoral work has played a role of utmost importance in the process of liberation of at least 100 political prisoners during the year 2010, as well as during negotiations held to achieve the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Havana and Washington.