By Nelson Acosta and Marc Frank
HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuban Catholics held public processions across the communist country on Friday to mark Good Friday, but there was at least one exception in Havana where 150 worshipers were relegated to the church car park.
Father Lester Zayas Diaz, 45, parish priest of the parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Vedado, told Reuters that the government denied his parish permission to hold the Holy Burial procession outside the church to punish him for speaking out in the his often fiery sermons, live-streamed on Facebook (NASDAQ:), about the hardships Cubans face.
“It is not possible today to present Jesus Christ without presenting him with a people going through a difficult time,” he said.
“It is impossible to talk about Jesus Christ without talking about the children who go to school today without having breakfast,” Zayas said, adding that the procession would take place, but in the church parking lot, as Reuters later testified.
The Cuban government did not respond to a request for comment.
The Caribbean island nation has been mired in a crisis since the start of the decade with the population suffering from blackouts, hyperinflation and shortages of food and other essential goods.
Rising social tensions have led to more unrest than the island has seen since the 1959 revolution and mass migration, mainly to the United States.
The Cuban government largely blames the crisis on U.S. sanctions and U.S. subversion for the unrest, charges Washington denies.
Ariel Suarez, secretary of the Cuban Bishops’ Conference, said that, as far as he knows, all processions are authorized and said he had heard of Zayas’ “situation” which he called “deplorable.”
“What I heard from the government is that there are 111 authorized marches across the country,” he said.
For decades all religious festivals and processions were banned in Cuba, but the situation began to change with the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1998, followed by his successors in subsequent years.
Christmas and then Good Friday were recognized as public holidays and religious processions are now common.