Religious leaders protest new restrictions on Cuba travel
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A UMNS file photo by Mike DuBose Worshipers
fill the sanctuary of J.W. Branscomb Methodist Church in Holguin, Cuba,
in 2002. Religious leaders are protesting U.S. restrictions on travel
to Cuba.
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About
700 worshipers fill the sanctuary of J.W. Branscomb Methodist Church in
Holguin, Cuba, in 2002. At the church, lay pastors from the Methodist
Church of Cuba received bicycles from World Methodist Evangelism for use
in ministry. The U.S. government has increased travel restrictions to
Cuba, and religious leaders are saying that has hindered travel by
church agencies to the country. A UMNS file photo by Mike DuBose. Photo
#06263. Accompanies UMNS #156. 3/17/06 |
March 17, 2006
By Lesley Crosson*
NEW YORK (UMNS) — A delegation of religious leaders joined a March 15 meeting
in Washington, called by members of Congress, to demand that U.S. government
agencies cease attempts to curtail religious freedom by imposing restrictive
regulations on travel by church agencies to Cuba.
Officials of the U.S. State and Treasury Departments listened to the concerns
raised by members of Congress and the religious delegation, which was organized
by Church World Service. Delegation members included the Rev. Jorge Domingues
and Jerald McKie, executives with the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.
The Rev. John McCullough, a United Methodist and CWS executive director, also
sent letters to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Treasury Secretary
John Snow. The letters, signed by 11 other heads of mainline Protestant organizations,
demanded an end to the restrictions. The signers included the Rev. Larry Pickens, chief executive of the United
Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, and the
Rev. Robert Edgar, a United Methodist and chief executive of the National Council
of Churches.
Pickens said his commission hopes to send a delegation
to Cuba in October. He believes the Bush administration “is placing
an undue hardship on church groups engaged in some very significant ecumenical
and mission work
in Cuba. Many of our churches, the United Methodist Church included, have longstanding
relationships with churches in Cuba.”
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A UMNS file photo by Mike DuBose Members of the Methodist Church in Cuba celebrate the donation of bicycles by World Methodist Evangelism in 2002.
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Missionary
lay pastors of the Methodist Church in Cuba join in consecrating 150
new bicycles donated for their use by World Methodist Evangelism during a
2002 service at J.W. Branscomb Methodist Church in Holguin, Cuba. The
U.S. government has increased travel restrictions to Cuba, and religious
leaders are saying that has hindered travel by church agencies to the
country. A UMNS file photo by Mike DuBose. Photo #06264. Accompanies
UMNS #156. 3/17/06 |
The controversy centers on a decision by the state and treasury departments
to stop issuing national church agencies and organizations general licenses
to travel to Cuba for purposes of mission work.
The government now is issuing new licenses that substantially restrict religious
travel by denominations and religious organizations, while providing greater
Cuba travel access to individual congregations.
McCullough declared that the group was “long past” the point of
seeking an explanation for the government’s actions. “We are dismayed
and even outraged at the loss of these licenses, and by what we view as unjustified
interference in and hindrance of the mission of the church,” he said. “We
are asking for the rights of our churches and ecumenical organizations to continue
our historic work in Cuba to be restored, protected and respected.”
The restricted license limits religious travel
to only one trip per quarter and requires applicants — such as CWS, the Episcopal Church, the United
Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church USA and others — to list on
the application the names of up to 25 people who will travel under the license.
Churches often do not know at the time of license application which church
members will request travel during the year, and they say it is unrealistic
to place a four-trip limit on denominational agencies representing millions
of members.
Ecumenical agencies like Church World Service and the National Council of
Churches are cooperative efforts representing nearly 40 large denominations,
and national denominational agencies represent tens of millions of members
of local congregations.
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A UMNS photo courtesy of the Rev. H. Eddie Fox. The
Rev. H. Eddie Fox (second from left), with the World Methodist Council,
helps lead prayer during a 2001 evangelism event for the Methodist
Church in Cuba.
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The
Rev. H. Eddie Fox (second from left) helps lead prayer during the
Second Congress on Evangelism for the Methodist Church in Cuba. The
church is experiencing a revival through increased ministry and a
doubling of membership, said Fox, world director of evangelism for the
World Methodist Council. At a March 15 meeting in Washington, D.C.
religious leaders demanded the U.S government cease attempts to curtail
religious freedoms by restricting travel by church agencies to Cuba. A
UMNS photo courtesy of the Rev. H. Eddie Fox. Photo #06265. Accompanies
UMNS story #156. 3/17/06. |
Citing decades of missionary and humanitarian
work in the island nation, McCullough said the mission of the church “has
long transcended political ideologies and changes of government in Cuba,
as well
as in other parts of the world.”
Since 2004, the U.S. administration has taken a series of actions to limit
travel to Cuba by Cuban-Americans wishing to visit family members, as well
as by scientists, academic researchers, students and now national religious
bodies.
The Rev. Tony Kireopoulos, an NCC executive, said
he found the meeting “quite
encouraging, in that officials from the State Department and the Treasury Department
were able to hear why churches representing millions of U.S. citizens are concerned
about these misplaced restrictions on religious practice.”
“While we may disagree with the policy itself, it is nonetheless a fact
that the current regulations negatively impact the mission of our churches,
and that is unacceptable to us. I think the officials with whom we met understood
that, but we will continue to inform our churches about these new restrictions
and advocate for them to be changed,” Kireopoulos said.
In the letters sent to Rice and Snow, McCullough and other religious leaders
raised their voices in a call for the administration to restore the general
licenses previously held by ecumenical agencies and national denominational
agencies.
They insisted that the new policy impedes the ability of local congregations
to engage in mission work in Cuba through their national agencies and makes
it nearly impossible for U.S. church leaders to bring Cuban church leaders
to the United States.
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Photo by the Latin America Working Group Representatives of several denominations confer on Cuba travel restrictions before meeting with U.S. officials in Washington.
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Representatives
of several denominations prepare March 15 for a meeting later that day
with members of Congress and officials from the state and treasury
departments. Church agencies are concerned about U.S. restrictions on
travel to Cuba. From left are the Rev. John McCullough, Church World
Service; Jerald McKie, United Methodist Board of Global Ministries;
Martin Shupack, Church World Service; the Rev. Raquel Rodriguez,
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; the Rev. Felix Ortiz-Cotto,
United Church of Christ and Disciples of Christ; and the Rev. Tricia
Lloyd-Sidle, Presbyterian Church USA. A UMNS photo by the Latin America
Working Group. Photo #06266. Accompanies UMNS story #156. 3/17/06 |
Additional signatories to the letters are Bishop Frank T. Griswold, primate,
Episcopal Church; Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson, Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America; the Rev. Stan Hastey, executive director, Alliance for Baptists;
the Rev. M.L. Jemison, president, Progressive National Baptist Convention;
and the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Also, the Rev. A. Roy Medley, chief executive, American Baptist Churches USA;
the Rev. Cally Rogers-Witte, president, Wider Church Ministries, United Church
of Christ; the Rev. Tyrone Pitts, chief executive, Progressive National Baptist
Convention; and the Rev. David A. Vargas, president, Division of Overseas Ministries,
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Besides McCullough, Domingues, McKie and Kireopoulos, members of the religious
delegation included Martin Shupack and the Rev. Richard Williams, Church World
Service; the Rev. Raquel Rodriguez, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America;
the Rev. Tricia Lloyd-Sidle, Presbyterian Church USA; the Rev. Stan Hastey,
Alliance of Baptists; the Rev. Felix Ortiz-Cotto, United Church of Christ and
Disciples of Christ; the Rev. Earl Trent Jr., Progressive National Baptist
Convention; and resource people from the Washington-based Latin America Working
Group.
*Crosson is part of the communications staff for Church World Service. UMNS
contributed to this story.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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