[Marxism] Vatican reaffirms opposition to blockade

[Walter Lippmann <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-vatican-pope-us-trip,0,1530738.story
South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
Vatican: Pope Will Speak on Abuse Crisis 

By VICTOR L. SIMPSON

Associated Press Writer

4:13 PM EDT, April 8, 2008

VATICAN CITY

Pope Benedict XVI recognizes the damage and pain caused by the clergy sex abuse 
crisis and will seek to heal wounds during his U.S. trip next week, the 
Vatican's
No. 2 official said Tuesday.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, in an interview with The Associated Press, said 
Benedict
will deliver a message of "trust and hope" when he meets American clergy
at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bertone worked as a close aide to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger when the future pope
headed the Vatican's office supervising doctrinal orthodoxy. He then served 
as archbishop of Genoa before Benedict appointed him secretary of state.

He now plays a highly visible role in the papacy.

Bertone was in Cuba on a long-scheduled visit when Raul Castro assumed the 
presidency
in February, and their discussions touched on political prisoners in Cuba and 
Cubans
jailed for spying in the United States.

The cardinal reiterated the Vatican's long-held position against the U.S. 
embargo
against Cuba and some European Union sanctions in his interview with the AP.

Bertone, who will be meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 
Washington,
said the embargo "does not help the positive development of Cuban society, 
rather it impedes it."

"The role of the church in Cuba is recognized. I would like to make a positive
observation -- also comparing to other nations of the world -- that Cuba, even 
under
the regime of Fidel Castro -- never interfered with the nomination and election 
of bishops of the Catholic Church."

He did not elaborate on the other nations but might have been referring to 
China,
where the Communist government sees the Vatican tradition of the pope naming his
own bishops as interference in the country.



=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un ParaÃso bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================

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