This is the title that Miguel Miró Miró, an Augustinian Recollect, gives to his account of his stay in the mission of Holguín, Cuba, where he requested to go for a while once he finished performing his office as Prior General of the Order of Augustinian Recollects. for twelve years (2010-1022). The Recollect presence on this Caribbean Island is limited to a community in the Diocese of Holguín, of which Miró was a member.
What are you going to do now? The new prior general asked me at the end of the Chapter. “I would like to go to the Cuban Mission for a few months to support in whatever way I can and then return to the Province” I replied with sincerity and some fear. I believe that, at my age, after spending eighteen years in Rome, dedicated to government tasks, one must leave life in the hands of the Lord and be ready to start a new stage of life with enthusiasm and renewed hope.
Leaving office and government responsibilities was a liberation and it was also an opportunity to “put order in one’s life” (Martini). I want to consider events and situations from faith, with freedom, with creativity, without fear, without allowing myself to be conditioned. For me, it has been a blessing to spend time in the Mission of Cuba, living with an interprovincial community and exercising the pastoral ministry with specific people who suffer their material poverty and live their spiritual richness in very particular socio political conditions.
We join a people that walk
It was from 1980 when Cubans, after the revolution, could say without fear that they were Catholic. The visit of Popes John Paul II (1998), Benedict XVI (2012) and Francis (2015) gave a great impetus for the Church of Cuba to express its faith freely. During his visit, Pope Francis said in Holguín, “Over the decades, our Church, in the silence of everyday life, has been strengthening its pastoral spirituality based on four keys to the Kingdom: the value of «the little», of « the small”, of “the anonymous” and of “the gradual”. The same need is an incentive to walk together, celebrate the faith, be in solidarity with everyone and evangelize. All the charisms are being integrated into the pastoral life of the Church in Cuba. Reduced in number, but walking together, with audacity and hope.
The Augustinian Recollects arrived in Cuba on February 17th, 2018. Currently, they serve a pastoral area of 781 km2 in the Diocese of Holguín with a population of about 80,000 inhabitants. This area includes the parishes of Banes, Antilla, Báguanos and Tacajó. Each Parish has communities in nearby towns (Río Seco, Cañadón, Los Ajíes, Macabí, El Ramón). 40% are baptized, but few people participate in the Sunday Eucharist. Participation in parish activities has been greatly reduced by the pandemic.
This town, which according to Monsignor Emilio Aranguren, bishop of Holguín, lives a “privatized faith”, feels the need to pray to the Virgin of Charity and to open their hearts to God. When celebrating the Eucharist with the door of the church wide open, I was motivated to think that each Eucharist was to make the Lord present in each of these towns and rural communities, even though there were few who participated and I saw many people passing by on the street busy with their daily chores.
You have to look for life
The social and economic crisis in the country is evident. With the international boycott, those most in need are punished and decisions that are difficult for me to understand are justified. For many people, life in Cuba is not easy and you have to “solve” the difficulties of each day to survive. There are nearly five million Cubans who live abroad and given the precarious situation there are many who want to emigrate to achieve a more dignified life.
He had the impression that he had gone back in time and that he was reviving the material needs of rural Spain in the sixties. Distant memories of childhood arose in my mind. There are some modern cars, but the circulation of vehicles made up of scrap parts, tricycles and horse carts that are used as public transport is striking. It is very difficult to get spare parts for vehicles. Thanks to the help of the religious of Panama, spare parts for the vehicles are brought on trips to that country. The suitcases are full of medicines, appliances, flashlights and food.
The scarcity of people’s medicines made me feel privileged since I had brought the ones I needed for a long time. In the house we had a store of medicines and they often came to ask us for prescriptions. On many occasions, the common response in Cuba is: “there isn’t”. The six-hour daily blackouts forced us to organize life counting on them. As a result of the fire in the oil deposits in Matanzas, light restrictions were increased, which were often twelve hours. The consequences for food conservation were evident, and the services of the electronic systems of the municipal stores and services were stopped. Before the pandemic, ARCORES sponsored a project to teach computer science, but it was paralyzed.
I got used to the allotments of food products offered by the government (errands), each person is given a roll a day (when there is flour). When there is, each person can collect their monthly allotment of rice, sugar, beans, eggs, and minced meat… As it is insufficient, they have to buy in the government stores or make ends meet to get fruit, fish, or meat. In the courtyard of the parish house in Banes we raise rabbits and chickens on the roof. In Báguanos and Tacajó they take care of one or two pigs for consumption or to collect funds. We were often helped by people who gave you fruit or desserts. I was lucky to be in mango season; we bought them from farmers who sold them on the side of the road when we returned from the parishes. I could not imagine that when there was no flour, no electricity, the brothers of the community would get a cake to celebrate birthdays.
To serve the parishes, the community needs vehicles. We had two electric motorcycles and three cars: a damaged Peugeot and a resistant Lada 2107, but with abundant repairs. After several attempts to acquire a warranty vehicle, it was finally possible to buy (at an abusive cost) a 1959 Jeep Toyota FJ40; a few days later it broke and we had to buy a new adaptable motor.
