New Cuban Cardinal sends message to the people and the church

October 9, 2019

The new Cuban cardinal, archbishop of San Cristóbal de La Habana, Juan de la Caridad García Rodríguez, sent an emotional message to the church and the people.

On October 5th, Monsignor García was officially named cardinal along with 12 other bishops during the Ordinary Public Consistory held at the Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican.

In an interview with ACI Prensa, the archbishop asked the people for fidelity and to preserve the faith.

"I ask my Cuban Church, the Church of Christ in Cuba, to continue being faithful, to continue performing the miracle of faith, hope and charity, and to persevere on this path that has been a long path, but at the same time a beautiful one, a path like that of Emmaus, but in which Jesus Christ has always been present, with his Word, with his Eucharist and with his closeness and his companionship".

Furthermore, he expressed that the invitation to give one's life and even blood for the cause of the Gospel, "is a very high challenge" and he hopes to "realize it every day", and "if the day comes to give my life I can say a full and generous yes".

On the other hand, he acknowledged that "the Church that baptized me, that confirmed me, that anointed me as a priest, that anointed me as a bishop and has now asked me to be a cardinal. So an immense gratitude to this entire Church, to the Pope and to all those who give beautiful testimony throughout their lives, in so many parts of the world, in difficult situations but who with love and dedication are living the Gospel of Christ, announcing it and captivating many people, more with testimony than with words".

This appointment comes after the death last July of the previous cardinal, Jaime Ortega.

A native of Matanzas, in western Cuba, Ortega played a prominent role leading the Catholic Church during a period when the island received visits from three popes (John Paul II in 1998, Benedict XVI in 2012 and Francis in 2015), and was an important mediator in the "thaw" between the Caribbean country and the USA.

He was archbishop of Havana for almost 35 years until in 2016, when he was already suffering from terminal cancer according to what was revealed later, he stepped down to hand over the position to Juan de la Caridad García, who had been archbishop of Camagüey (central).