{"id":23908,"date":"2026-06-20T01:51:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T20:21:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/with-cuba-in-crisis-faith-groups-work-to-influence-policy-deliver-aid\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T01:51:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T20:21:20","slug":"with-cuba-in-crisis-faith-groups-work-to-influence-policy-deliver-aid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/with-cuba-in-crisis-faith-groups-work-to-influence-policy-deliver-aid\/","title":{"rendered":"With Cuba in crisis, faith groups work to influence policy, deliver aid"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p><iframe title=\"Everlit Audio Player\" src=\"https:\/\/everlit.audio\/embeds\/artl_AKz7lTzgvNa?ui_title_intro=Listen+now%3A&amp;client=wp&amp;client_version=3.2.3\" width=\"100%\" height=\"136px\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>(RNS) \u2014 <span>In the face of an accelerating U.S. pressure campaign, deteriorating public <\/span><span>utilities and economic inefficiency, Cuba\u2019s communist government on Thursday (June 18) announced sweeping <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/cuba-economic-reforms-diaz-canel-758f2199c867472e05e585ccc54a269f\">economic reforms<\/a>, <\/span>the largest privatization since before Fidel Castro\u2019s revolution in 1959.<\/p>\n<p><span draggable=\"true\">Since January, <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/cuba-strategy-venezuela-trump-pressure-campaign-a7555abe7f38de0e94129ca6abc3afcf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the Trump administration<\/a> has made repeated<\/span><span> threats of military action, and its sanctions and an oil blockade have been compounding Cuba\u2019s existing fuel shortages, power outages and scarcity of food and medicines<\/span>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span>Amid the mounting internal and external pressure, faith communities have been speaking up and meeting with both the U.S. and Cuban governments.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>U.S. Republican administrations have long seen faith groups as a cornerstone for humanitarian aid and community trust as they push for regime change in Cuba. In the last few months, the top U.S. diplomat in Cuba, Mike Hammer, has met with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ewtnnews.com\/world\/americas\/usa-diplomat-in-cuba-meets-with-bishops-and-opposition-figures\">top Catholic bishops<\/a>, a <a href=\"https:\/\/en.cibercuba.com\/noticias\/2026-05-12-u1-e207888-s27061-nid328968-hammer-reune-padre-jose-conrado-fuerte-voz-refleja#google_vignette\">Catholic priest <\/a>known for being critical of the Cuban government, a Methodist bishop and members of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.cibercuba.com\/noticias\/2026-03-26-u1-e197721-s27061-nid324143-mike-hammer-reune-alianza-iglesias-evangelicas-cuba\">the Alliance of Evangelical Churches in Cuba<\/a>, which includes several groups more often critical of the government, including the Assemblies of God.<\/p>\n<p>Despair has become intense, said Rita Mar\u00eda Garc\u00eda Morris, the executive director of the Centro Cristiano de Reflexi\u00f3n y Di\u00e1logo (Christian Center for Reflection and Dialogue) based in the Cuban province of Matanzas, who with her team has helped meet the daily needs of vulnerable people and to advocate for peace, including several meetings with Hammer and U.S.-based pastors.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSuicide, mental illnesses and hopelessness are extreme, extreme,\u201d said Garc\u00eda Morris in Spanish. \u201cOur psychologists cannot keep up. We have a team of psychologists working even at night with phone calls, and they cannot keep up.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4265089\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 750px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4265089\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Cuba-Crisis2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Cuba-Crisis2.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Cuba-Crisis2-427x285.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Cuba-Crisis2-807x538.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Cuba-Crisis2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Cuba-Crisis2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Cuba-Crisis2-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Cuba-Crisis2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Cuba-Crisis2-380x253.jpg 380w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">A pile of trash burns in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo\/Jorge Luis Banos)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Garc\u00eda Morris, a Presbyterian ruling elder, said that suffering due to days-long blackouts and spoiled food is widespread. In December, she had to travel to the Dominican Republic because she had developed diabetic ketoacidosis, a condition that can become life-threatening, because she was not able to keep her insulin refrigerated.<\/p>\n<p>Cuban state media has said the survival rate for children with cancer <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/cuba-us-oil-embargo-blockade-healthcare-6fa86704197b96be84372ef84fdf474f\">has fallen<\/a> from 85% to 65% since the oil blockade began and that more than 75% of essential medications produced on the island can\u2019t be made right now because of unavailable components.<\/p>\n<p>The power outages and lack of flour are also limiting the Catholic church\u2019s ability to produce unconsecrated bread for Communion. Puerto Rican parishes and Dominican religious sisters worked to send nearly 300,000 hosts to Cuba this month.<\/p>\n<p>Outreach Aid to the Americas (OAA) distributes humanitarian aid to Cuba through largely evangelical churches independent from the government.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Teo Babun, OAA\u2019s Cuban-American president and CEO, was quoted on the important role of faith communities in a 2004 Bush administration report issued by the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba. The evangelical businessman told RNS that \u201cmost of those reports interestingly enough are applicable today.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>He expressed confidence that the U.S. government and evangelical organizations are ready to provide a greater surge of humanitarian aid, even before a regime change.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u200aWe are aware of a lot of conversation taking place regarding Cuba and the aid that needs to be put together,\u201d he said. \u201c\u200aThey are becoming more and more familiar with the fact that the evangelical church has tremendous, broad resources and experience working in Cuba to be able to assist in providing humanitarian assistance at the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<hr\/>\n<p>Since the beginning of the year, the U.S. State Department has funneled humanitarian aid to Cuba through the Catholic church, citing concerns about government corruption. The first batch of $3 million was designated after last fall\u2019s Hurricane Melissa and took over four months to distribute.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The State Department announced in February another $6 million in aid to be distributed through the Catholic church, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in May that half of that amount was still being held up by Cuban government permitting. The department made a third offer of $100 million in assistance distributed through both the Catholic church and \u201cother reliable independent humanitarian organizations\u201d last month.<\/p>\n<p>The Catholic Church has also been continuing their long history of diplomacy promoting dialogue, rather than military conflict, in the U.S.-Cuba relationship. In February, several high-level meetings at the Vatican involving U.S. and Cuban leaders speaking about the Cuban crisis were publicized.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4257032\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 750px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4257032\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Photos-Week04-042926.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Photos-Week04-042926.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Photos-Week04-042926-427x284.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Photos-Week04-042926-807x538.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Photos-Week04-042926-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Photos-Week04-042926-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Photos-Week04-042926-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Photos-Week04-042926-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/webRNS-Photos-Week04-042926-380x253.jpg 380w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">Carmen Casado, 84, is served a free meal of ground meat, rice, red beans and crackers through a program run by the Church of the Holy Spirit at a dining hall adjacent to the Catholic church in Old Havana, Cuba, Thursday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ramon Espinosa)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThis is the oldest diplomatic corps in the world and is certainly one of the most effective,\u201d said Peter Martin, a former U.S. diplomat to the Holy See who now teaches at Boston College.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Those diplomats have played key roles in Cuba\u2019s recent history. On Pope Francis\u2019 78th birthday, President Barack Obama <a href=\"https:\/\/obamawhitehouse.archives.gov\/the-press-office\/2014\/12\/17\/statement-president-cuba-policy-changes\/\">announced<\/a> that he would begin normalizing relations with Cuba, a sharp break in over 50 years of policy \u2014 and he personally thanked Francis for his \u201cmoral example\u201d and role in brokering key prisoner releases that allowed for the agreement.<\/p>\n<p>That announcement came after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ewtnnews.com\/vatican\/cuba-us-how-the-holy-see-was-behind-the-scene-for-50-years\">decades<\/a> of work by the Vatican and U.S. bishops. U.S. bishops began to back Cuban bishops\u2019 calls for an end to the U.S. embargo on Cuba in 1972, and Vatican leaders had played a key role in easing government repression of religious groups in the once-atheist country, starting with a 1989 trip by Cardinal Roger Etchegaray.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVatican officials always urge leaders to consider the human cost of war, aggression and economic sanctions,\u201d Martin said. \u201cIn my experience, when Holy See officials raised these issues, they weren\u2019t asking us to turn a blind eye to the Cuban government\u2019s abuses; they were simply pressing us to engage in dialogue and consider policies that would not harm the most vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anna Lee Stangl, head of advocacy for CSW, an ecumenical Christian religious freedom organization, told RNS that it was possible to both believe that U.S. sanctions are \u201cunjust\u201d and that the Cuban government is engaging in \u201cthe systematic and serious violation of individual people\u2019s basic human rights.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Her organization\u2019s research with sources on the ground in Cuba informs the U.S. government\u2019s assessment of religious freedom in Cuba, and she said they continue to collect credible reports about religious leaders experiencing harassment, fines, surveillance and unjust incarceration.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<hr\/>\n<p>Catholics weren\u2019t the only religious groups to contribute to the Obama administration policy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey wanted to hear from us and valued the expertise because they knew that our partners on the ground had the knowledge of exactly what was happening on the ground unfiltered,\u201d said Catherine Gordon, Presbyterian Church (USA)\u2019s representative for international issues, citing high-level meetings between denominational faith offices and the National Security Council.<\/p>\n<p>Though the Vatican has continued to play a role in U.S.-Cuba diplomacy, faith groups opposing punitive U.S. economic policy on Cuba had not seen much success since the Obama years. In his first term, President Donald Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20190422150935\/https:\/www.chicagotribune.com\/lifestyles\/travel\/ct-us-cuba-travel-restrictions-20171108-story.html\">reimposed<\/a> restrictions on the island country, and despite some faith groups expecting the Biden administration would echo Obama\u2019s Cuba policy, he continued Trump administration policies and added new sanctions.<\/p>\n<p>Gordon said her coalition, largely left-leaning Protestant faith groups who had helped shape Obama\u2019s Cuba policies, have been shut out ever since. Under Biden, \u201c\u200awe were seen as another network to promote their agenda with,\u201d said Gordon, but despite assurances the administration was reviewing Cuba\u2019s state sponsor of terrorism designation, \u201c\u200athey were never working on it,\u201d she said, saying the Biden administration\u2019s engagement with those groups was in \u201cbad faith.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Under Trump, those organizations, which work together under the Interfaith Working Group on Cuba, have tried alternate strategies to keep their ideas in conversation. In February, they <a href=\"https:\/\/pcusa.org\/news-storytelling\/news\/2026\/2\/9\/call-stand-with-people-cuba\">delivered<\/a> a letter to the White House and Congress calling on policymakers to end sanctions, enable humanitarian assistance and engage in diplomacy.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of March, a group including leaders from the World Council of Churches, World Communion of Reformed Churches, the Anglican Communion, the World Methodist Council, Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Church of Canada made a <a href=\"https:\/\/oikoumene.org\/resources\/documents\/statement-on-conclusion-of-international-ecumenical-solidarity-visit-to-cuba\">solidarity visit<\/a> to Cuba, designed to highlight Cuban suffering and condemn U.S. sanctions, and met with Cuban government leaders.<\/p>\n<p>And in April, Gordon and the working group also organized a <a href=\"https:\/\/pcusa.org\/news-storytelling\/news\/2026\/4\/15\/path-forward-cuba\">webinar<\/a> with Obama administration alumnus Ben Rhodes, who highlighted the importance and potential power of faith communities in shaping policy on Cuba. \u201cThere are faith-based arguments that can be made about the human suffering,\u201d Rhodes said.<\/p>\n<p>But they say they\u2019ve largely been hitting walls in their efforts. Carol Blythe, the advocacy coordinator for the Alliance of Baptists, described feeling unheard in a January Zoom meeting with a State Department staffer when she asserted that their counterparts in Cuba are able to worship freely, counter to the department\u2019s assessment of Cuba as a Country of Particular Concern for religious liberty.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of 2024, Blythe, along with Stan Hastey, a retired denominational leader for the Alliance of Baptists, spearheaded a report about religious liberty based on a survey of pastors in Cuba and the testimonies of U.S. partners, which they delivered to the State Department.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe contend that there is no systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom that specifically include (1) torture; (2) prolonged detention without charges; (3) forced disappearances; or (4) other flagrant denial of life, liberty, or security of persons,\u201d several denominations wrote in a letter introducing the report to then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In the report, which emphasizes the improvements in religious liberty in Cuba, one U.S. pastor who served in Cuba argued that policing seditious political dissidence and controlling religious expression are significantly different.<\/p>\n<p>The State Department and the U.S. embassy in Cuba did not respond to requests for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe that the church, international Christian leaders, can really call for peace and insist that the governments have a dialogue,\u201d Garc\u00eda Morris said. \u201cThe church in Cuba and the United States has not been indifferent. I believe that it has worked and continues working to prevent a much bigger and worse catastrophe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 1 -->\n        <\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2026\/06\/19\/with-cuba-in-crisis-faith-groups-work-to-influence-policy-deliver-aid\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(RNS) \u2014 In the face of an accelerating U.S. pressure campaign, deteriorating public utilities and economic inefficiency, Cuba\u2019s communist government on Thursday (June 18) announced sweeping economic reforms, the largest privatization since before Fidel Castro\u2019s revolution in 1959. Since January, the Trump administration has made repeated threats of military action, and its sanctions and an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}