Church official says rebuilding human values key challenge for Cuba

Published: 2006-01-26

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Cuban church faces the challenge of rebuilding human values in a society that is falling apart economically and ethically, said Msgr. Jose Perez Riera, associate general secretary of the Cuban bishops' conference. After more than four decades of communist rule people have lost respect for telling the truth, for personal responsibility and for their human feelings, he said. The government, instead of helping people achieve the material means to live in dignity, "proposes living in sacrifice," said Msgr. Perez in a Jan. 23 speech at Jesuit-run Georgetown University in Washington. The church official said it was impossible to predict what will happen in Cuba after the death of 79-year-old President Fidel Castro, who has led the country since his successful 1959 revolution. "It is difficult to see right now how changes will take place, but change will happen," he said.

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