AMERICA/CUBA – “Mission houses”: places of community life and strength of the Church in Cuba

Holguin (Agenzia Fides) – Yesterday Pope Francis praised, in a homily he delivered during a Mass he celebrated in Revolution Square in Holguín (east), the key role for the evangelization carried out in the so-called “mission houses”. “I know that with effort and sacrifice the Church in Cuba is working to bring to everyone, even in the most remote locations, the word and the presence of Christ ” the Pope said to the crowd gathered in Calixto Garcia Iniguez Revolution Square. “Deserving special mention are the so-called mission houses, which – given the scarcity of churches and priests – allow so many people to be able to have a space for prayer, to hear the Word, the catechism and the life of the community”, said the Pope. “They are small signs of the presence of God in our neighborhoods and a daily aid in bringing to life the words of the Apostle Paul: ‘I beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation with which you are called.'”
There are currently 70 of these mission houses in the Holguin diocese.
The mission houses are an initiative that emerged in the 1970s and, although they were not held in any regard by the Communist government, they were never prohibited. Throughout Cuba, there are currently 2,330 such facilities. These are sites where such rituals as baptisms are performed, where communities undertake various types of activities and where there are regular celebrations. They have been considered by the Cuban Catholic bishops conference to be “one of the great strengths of the Church”.
In the note sent to Fides from a local source, the Bishop of Holguin, His Exc. Mgr. Emilio Aranguren Echeverría, thanked the Pope for his presence, and stressed that his visit will force the local Church “to work to promote the pastoral care of ‘meeting’. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 22/09/2015)

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Publish date : 2015-09-22 03:00:00

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