Saturday, August 15, 2015

As the U.S. returns to Cuba, Christianity rises

As the U.S. returns to Cuba, Christianity rises

Friday morning was a monumental moment for U.S. and Cuba relations as
the U.S. raised its flag at its newly reopened embassy in Cuba, which
had been closed for 54 years, BBC reported.

Secretary of State John Kerry went to Cuba for the ceremony, making him
the first secretary of state in 70 years to visit the island nation,
according to BBC.

Kerry said that the United States hoped to inspire political change in
Cuba, which is still a communist country, BBC reported.

"The people of Cuba would be best served by a genuine democracy, where
people are free to choose their leaders," Kerry told those in
attendance, according to BBC.

As the United States and its leaders push for a democratic revolution in
the country, Cuba has also seen an increase in another belief: Christianity.

Christian Today reported earlier this month that Cuba has seen a "Bible
boom" over the last few months. In fact, almost 83,000 copies of the
Bible entered the country through the International Missions board last
month, according to Christian Today.

Similarly, The American Bible Society, which started the "Million Bible
Mission" last year to spread Bibles across the world, gave about 60,000
Bibles to Cuba in 2014, according to Christian Today.

"With a population of 11 million, a literacy rate of nearly 100 percent
and an unprecedented growth in Christianity thanks to social, economic
and political reforms, many Cubans are seeking guidance and hope found
in God's Word," the American Bible Society said in a statement. "As a
result of this unprecedented spiritual and cultural shift, demand for
Bibles has outpaced supply. In addition, many Cubans cannot afford to
import high-quality Bibles."

Part of the surge may be because Cuba lifted its Bible ban back in May,
according to Charisma News. The ban, which started 50 years ago, kept
Bibles from bookshelves and only allowed them in churches, Charisma News
reported.

More than just Bibles, Cuban Christians have also found other aspects of
faith inspiring, like the Dead Sea scrolls and Jewish Torah scrolls that
came to the country for 21 days last March, according to Christian Today.

"There are some really exciting artifacts here that tell not only the
history of how we got the Bible, but the impact that Spain and Latin
America had on the history of the Bible," Norman Conrad, a curator at
the Christian Heritage Museum in Cuba, told Christian Today.

More so, there's been tremendous support among Christian Cubans for Pope
Francis. In fact, Cubans will get a chance to see Pope Francis later
this year when he visits ahead of his arrival in the United States in
September, according to The Washington Post.

The pope actually helped the U.S. and Cuba mend their relationship,
which had been severed for 50 years during the Cold War, The Post
reported. Pope Francis' visit to Cuba and the United States will be
another effort by the pope to bring the countries together through faith.

"It has been a special time in our country since the presidents of Cuba
and the United States announced the process of ­re-establishing
relations, and both of them thanked Pope Francis for his efforts to move
the process forward," Orlando Marquez, the spokesman for the Havana
Archdiocese, said in a statement. "That is well-known in Cuba, and the
Cuban people are grateful."

Source: As the U.S. returns to Cuba, Christianity rises | Deseret News
National -
http://national.deseretnews.com/article/5549/as-the-us-returns-to-cuba-christianity-rises.html

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