Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Havana (Agenzia Fides) - The Bishops' Conference of Cuba has published the Pastoral Plan for the Cuban Catholic Church for the period 2014-2020, entitled "Following Emmaus’ footsteps", of which a copy was sent to Fides Agency. Conceived as a spiral process that starts from the first proclamation of the Gospel, the Plan presents the Christian initiation in the key of discipleship, that is, people who learn faith while living with their Master, who is Christ. The Pastoral Plan therefore gives priorities to the family and to the Christian community called to a continuous process of conversion.
This pastoral plan finds its origin in the three-year preparation and events for the fourth centenary of the discovery of the image of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, Patroness of Cuba, celebrated in 2012. The rich experience lived in that long period was collected through a consultation in the Christian community and ended with the writing of this document, approved by the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba, which will be officially presented to the Catholic community in the context of the Feast of the Patroness of Cuba this year.
In the Conclusion of the document, 39 pages, after analyzing the situation of the religious, social and economic life of the country, the Christian community is invited to a decisive choice regarding the missionary commitment, citing the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (27): "a “missionary option”, that is, a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything, so that the Church’s customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, language and structures can be suitably channeled for the evangelization of today’s world rather than for her self-preservation". (CE) (Agenzia Fides 12/09/2014)
