Now we are going to cite briefly some documents from the Social Doctrine of the Church and the eclesial analysis of the catholics which explain the need to create a Civic and Religious Education Center for the laics and for all the good-willed persons.

VATICAN CONCILIUM.

3.1.The Vatican Concilium II says in the Constitution ¨Gaudium et Spes"in its number 75:

¨We mut pay special attention to the civic and political education nowadays because it is particularly necessary to the people and to the young.This education is important for all, so that everybody can fulfill their mission in the political community life.
Those who are or will be able to exercise the noble art that politics is
must be prepared to practice it without any personal or superficial profit.
You should fight, with moral integrity and with prudence against injustice and oppresion , against intolerance and against the absolutism of only one man and only one party. You must devote yourself to the common service, with sincerity and righteousness, and above all, with charity and political strength ("Gaudium et Spes" 75)
These words from the Concilium are in force nowadays in Cuba and they are a source of inspiration and encouragement to the people involved in the functioning of this center.

 

PAUL VI: APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION "EVANGELII NUNTIANDI"

´ 3.2. The Pope Paul VI in his Apostolic Exhortation EVANGELII NUNTIANDI number 70, remembers us about the specific vocation of
laics and the special field of our evangelizing project.

The religious persons whose specific vocation places them in the heart of the world and as leaders of temporary tasks must carry out a special way of evangelizing... The vast and complex area of their evangelizating activity includes politics, society, economy , culture, science
and arts, international life and mass media...
The more religious persons are devoted to these realities , the more these realities will favor the creation of God´s Kingdom and of course the salvation in Jesus Christ. These religious persons are to be very close to the Gospel and are to be competent and committed to those realities . They should promote these realities and they should be aware of the fact that they need to use their full christian capacity. (EVANGELII NUNTIANDI, 70)
To educate competent and committed persons for this purpose it is necessary to create a center for social and political education and promotion. We will ever appreciate the enlightened teachings by our beloved Pope Paul VI whom we always remember. These teachings are a challenge to cubans nowadays...and tomorrow.

MEDELLIN: II ASSEMBLY OF LATIN AMERICAN EPISCOPATE

3.3. We were told in Medellín that this kind of civic and political participation is a conciousness duty and a charity exercise.
The lack of a political conciousness in our countries makes it paramount the education action of the church, so that christians realize
that their participation in the political life of the nation is a conciousness duty and an exercise of charity, in its widest sense of nobility and

effectiveness for the community life. (Medellín Topic 1,16)
This lack is, in our case, even more critical because of our past and recent political life history as we will see ahead.

PUEBLA: III ASSEMBLY OF THE LATIN AMERICAN EPISCOPATE

3.4. In Puebla it was specified that this civic and political education should prepare the agents for the change that society requires and it was said that ¨the poorest¨ are the ones that don´t receive an overall education.

"The catholic education is to prepare the agents for the permanent and organic change that Latin American society requires (Med. 4. II,8) through a civic and political education inspired on the Church Social Teachings¨ ( John Paul II, Opening Speech I, 9 LXXI p. 195) (Puebla, number 1033).
¨For the Church , educating man is part of the evangelizing mission, thus continuing Master Christ´s mission... This evangelizing education should have, among others, the following characteristics:

a)Humanizing and personifying man for he to be willing to listen to, and to experience the Gospel.
b)To become part of the Latin American social process...very close to the radical christian culture which has possitive and negative values...
c)To exercise criticism as a result of a true education...and this will lead to the creation of a new society with true participation and fraternity.
That is education for justice.

Every man, due to the fact of being a person has the inalieable right to education which serves his own prospects, character and sex, and according to the culture and the traditions in the homeland. The ones that don´t receive this education should be considered as the poorest and the ones that need most the educating action of the church". (Puebla 1012-1034)

SANTO DOMINGO
IV LATIN AMERICAN EPISCOPATE ASSEMBLY.

3.5. In Santo Domingo it was stressed again the idea of the urgency of the
church educating action as part of its evangelizing mission and it was also stressed the importance of the civic and social education

"Our commitment in the area of education is above all, the pastoral orientation of inculturation: education is the methodologic mediation for cultural evangelizing. So we are in favor of a christian education, from and for life in the individual, familiar and communitary sides and in the echosystem side. We are in favor of an education that stimulates the dignity of the human person and the real solidarity an education based on civic and social teachings inspired on the Gospel and on the church social doctrine. We are committed to an evangelizig education¨. (Sto. Domingo doc. No. 271)

¨ To transform the Catholic Church into a community - center of evangelizating, through students, fathers and teachers. We should make an effort to strengthen the educative community and a process of civic and social education , inspired on the Gospel and on the Church Social Teaching which responds to the real needs of the people. So the students organization is to be reformed as well as educational organizations, students' parents and ex-students . All those reforms would be a method for a social and civic education which will pave the way for a democratic instruction of persons. We should ask the Governments to continue making efforts to attain an increasing democratic education¨. (Santo Domingo.No. 278).

CUBAN ECLESIAL NATIONAL GATHERING (ENEC* 1986)
*Spanish Initials
3.6. The ENEC, Havanna 1986, boldly and profetically stated:

¨We must realize that faith is closely related to social and political reality. This reality must be redeemed by the action of christianity, as any other area of human activity. We can´t speak of a non-political christianity or a church away from politics , because every act that leads to man´s convertion, or to the transformation of society, is necessarily a political act and has an ethical origin.¨(CENM 763).

¨The Church only wishes to have the necessary space to fulfill its mission to state its ethical, moral and non- political opinion, about every human concern, not strictly religious but human, after all. This wouldn´t be a privilege to the church but a right and a service¨.(Opening speech at ENEC)

¨Peoples must be the protagonist of the cultural evangelizing and love civilization. These two aspects demand a real socio-economic, political and cultural democratization on the basis of the values of justice, solidarity, participation and healthy pluralism. And it also demands that, without going back to the past, we can achieve a synthesis between our own tradition and the technical and scientific civilization, which frees us from any manifestation of ellusive or technocratic dehumanization¨.

JOHN PAUL II APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION CHRISTIFIDELIS LAICI

3.7. The Pope John Paul II states in Christifidelis Laici:
The laics have the noble political purpose of spreading and honor the human and christian values. They need for this purpose not only the exhortations but the proper social conciousness education based specially on the church social doctrine which includes principles of analysis,

criteria, judgements, and practical suggestions¨. (ENEC Cong. for the Faith Doctrine, Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation, 72. Cited on Christifidelis Laici, 60).

JOHN PAUL II. CENTESIMUS ANNUS ENCYCLICAL
3.8.In the Centesimus Annus he says

"The present world is incresingly aware of the fact that the solution to the serious national and international problems is not only a question of econonomical production or social and juridical organization, but it requires strict ethical and religious values as well as a change in mentality, behaviour and structures."
"The church strongly feels the need of offering this cooperation and we have reasons to hope that the great number of people who are not religious can make a contribution to the necessary ethical foundations of the social affair".

HOLY SITE. LAIC PONTIFICE COUNCIL

3.9.There is a recommendation in the purpose No. 8 of the document ¨Education for Laics¨ that belongs to the Pontifice Council of Laics.

"The diocese has an an important endeavour regarding this area which is to efficiently coordinate and organize the varied courses which should be apropiate... Most of the courses for laics are headed for their training on the service to the church. This training is important. However, we must not forget-according to the special laic vocation- that it is paramount to prepare them for giving testimony and to serve society. This kind of training is vital for the church mission in the world. So the political, social, economical, cultural and international education should be considered as a relevant part of laic education carried out by the Church. The Catholic Teaching Institutions, the movements, associations and organizations of laics are specially qualified to prepare the laics for this testimony and this service in the world."
"Specially the associations and proffesional organizations represent advanced positions of vital importance in the area of culture, science, economics, business, politics, etc. The eclesial community of priests, religious people and laics will have to undertake a united action to create these institutions where they don´t exist". (Proposition 8).

JOHN PAUL II HIS TEACHING IN CUBA, 1998

3.10. Let us remember now the seven exhortations that the Pope said in Cuba regarding this kind of education:

-¨Parents should not allow others to replace them in therir responsibility for educating their children. They must choose the pedagogic style for their children, the civic and ethical contents and the religious inspiration they want for their full education¨. (Homily on Family in Santa Clara, No. 6)

-The church has the duty of offering a religious, moral and civic education which helps the cuban young people to grow up with human and christian values . The church should not fear to do so, and has to persevere because this is an educative endeavor that takes time and needs the means and institutions proper for developing virtue and spirituality in people, for the sake of the church and the nation¨. (Homily to the young in Camagüey. No. 3).

"The best legacy we can bestow to future generations is the transmition of spiritual higher values. It is not a matter of saving some of them , but favoring an ethical and civic education which helps to accept new values, to rebuild
the character and the soul of society on the basis of education for freedom, social justice and responsibility. The curch, which is an "expert in humanity"
is willing to escort the young along this path...¨( Message to the cuban youth, No. 4).

-The state, away from any extreme secularism or fanatism, must provide a serene social atmosphere and a proper legislation which allows each person and each religious creed, to freely express themselves in public life and have enough means and spaces to give the national life its spititual, moral and civic wealth". (Homily in Havanna No. 4)
¨We have to give a special care to the young people. For this part of the population we must assure an adecuate education on catechism, on moral and civic principles whici will be the necessary "supplement for their souls¨. This ¨supplement¨ will restore in them the loss of values and their life meaning through a solid human and christian education".( Message to the Cuban Bishops, No. 5a).

¨You should encourage the laics to live thir vocation with braveness and perseverance , being present in all areas of social life, giving testimony
about Christ´s and man´s truth. They should look for solutions to the moral, social, political, economic, cultural and economic problems together with the good-willed persons. They should efficiently and modestly participate in the efforts to overcome the critical situation that sometimes arise and that concerns all of us, thus helping the nation to achieve increasingly human life conditions. The catholics, the same as the rest of the citizens, have the duty and the right to contribute to the progress of the country. The civic dialogue and the responsible participation can help the laics task and we wish the committed laics to continue preparing themselves
in the study and implementation of the Church Social Doctrine to enlighten all atmospheres. (Message to the Cuban Bishops No. 5c.)

A Laic State must not fear but rather appreciate the moral and educative contribution of the church. In this context it is normal that the church has access to the mass media: radio, press and television and it can count on its own means in these areas to announce the true and living God to all men.
For this evangelizing task, catholic publications must be enriched and consolidated so that they can serve more efficiently to the announcement of the truth, not only to the Children of the Church but to the whole cuban people (Message to the Cuban Bishops No. 5e).

THE CUBAN BISHOPS MESSAGE ABOUT THE YEAR 2000 JUBELEE

3.11 PROTAGONISTS INSIDE THE CHURCH AND IN SOCIETY

-50 Every person has, as a right, a share of freedom and responsibility in the search for the people´s good. To exercise this right and this civic duty is a serious obligation to every cuban and a church commitment which is part of this people . This commitment must be fulfilled with fidelity and generous sacrifice.

-As part of the kind closeness and concern that the Pope has showed about our homeland and our church, he sent us a message on the first anniversary of his visit to Cuba. He explains in it the meaning of this serious responsiblity for the church. He states:

"To accept this responsibility means to the church in Cuba now, the possibility of practicing the faith in recognized public dimensions to exercise the charity in a personal and social way; to educate the conciouness for freedom and for the service of all men and stimulate the initiatives that can create a new society. May all the fundamental rights of the human person be found in it, as well as social justice , with no discriminations of some to favor others. May also be found the necessary acknowledgement and an effective institutional promotion" . (John Paul II, January 22th 1999)

Here lies a project of life which is demanding and hopeful, and we shepherds of God´s people in this island, want to make it ours and implement it.

52. We encourage our christian communities, priests, diacons and religious persons, groups and movements eclesially committed, laics more devoted to the social action, and all good-willed men and women that share our faith, to think, during this Jubelee year, of these four aspects that we have mentioned, because they are the succesors of the apostles. They should do this together with Peter´s succesor: (The Pope). That task will allow us to prepare the future and to give the best of ourselves and above all, the trascendent richness of the Gospel in the special juncture we are involved in.

a) To practice the faith in public and recognized scopes.

53.That means it will be possible to practice without duplicity or simulance the faith we allow and to accept familiar and social, economic political and cultural behaviours that will be coherent to the life we live and the faith we practice. If there are public manifestations of the faith, for example, processions, open air masses,missions to the houses, eclesial meetings in mission houses and the access to the mass media, so people will percieve that faith has attained a citizen-right level.

b) To exercise charity in a personal and social way.

54. This means that faith must be accompanied by service. "If faith is alone and includes no actions, then it is dead", has said apostle James (James 2, 17). That´s why the exercise of theological virtue of charity, the one which will judge us before God, includes the service offered from person to person and can´t be reduced to an individual way of charity, which is always necessary and legitimate. It should be complemented through the social and communitarian organized service. Religious freedom is limited whenever the church is not allowed to exercise charity at a social level which goes beyond the isolated and personal assistance. In this sense we must remember that assistence work which is so necessary in our country today, doesn´t free us from the exercise of social justice, which is a relevant way of charity, looking for the full and timely assistance with the necessary structural renovations.

c) To educate the conciousness for freedom and service.

55. This means to respect in every person what is inherent to her and what God´s grace has come to redeem. To awaken the conciousness so that every person can accept her responsibility for herself, for her family and for society, as a challenge of the present times . The church can contribute to this challenge through its specific contribution. The education of conciousness in freedom and for freedom, which is the true education, must be a right for every person and every family, for the church and besides an inseparable duty of the church evangelizing mission. The Holy Father pointed out in Camagüey: "The church has the duty of giving a moral, civic and religious education that helps the young cubans to to grow up according to the human and christian values without fear and persevering in an educative work that takes time and needs the proper means and the institutions for creating virtue and spirituality for the sake of the church and the nation". (Homily in Camagüey).

56. "The family, the school and the church should be a community where the cuban children can grow up in humanity". (Homily in Santa Clara). To properly respect freedom of conciousness and religious freedom, education cannot be simplified to only one pedagogical model and only one inspiring philosophy.

d)To stimulate the initiatives which can create a new society.

57. This means that the church, which due to the characteristics of its mission, cannot be politically affiliated, should however, encourage all the citizens, no matter their creed or social option could be, to give their civic contribution so that , in the diversity of opinions and ethical contributions, we can "create an atmosphere of greater freedom and pluralism, being certain that God loves you intensely and remains faithful to His promise"(John Paul II, Farewell Speech).

58. To help to create that atmosphere of new values, of deep spirituality and social commitment, is not in contradiction with the church mission or the laic character of the State. On the contrary, it´s rather coherent with the ¨search for God´s kingdom and it´s justice¨. (Mt. 6, 33). Thus, a new society will eventually emerge.

THIS IS THE ONLY TIME, THE FAVORABLE TIME, THE YEAR OF THE GRACE.

59 " We address the catholic laics with a word of encouragement . They are committed in these areas that belong to their apostolic vocation. You are the ¨ferment in the dough¨, you should increase the number of initiatives that lead to the common good of our people. You are the grain or wheat that falls to the ground and dies .You must accept the indispensable sacrifice with generosity . A sacrifice that leads to give your life to the service to others. Christ is the Gate, you are the walkers that travel to the new Jerusalem. Don´t be afraid , all who are thirsty in that path. He will give you live water to drink". (Message to the Bishops No. 50-59).