By Justin McLellan, Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Taking up the spirit of the recently inaugurated Holy Year 2025, the Cuban government has announced the release of 553 people currently serving prison sentences.
Cuba said it would gradually release the prisoners “in the spirit of the Ordinary Jubilee of the year 2025 declared by His Holiness” following a “thorough analysis” of the legal and humanitarian avenues to enact their release, Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a statement Jan. 14.
The statement did not specify who would be among the 553 prisoners designated to be released.
That same day, the White House announced that it will no longer designate Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism and that it would eliminate some restrictions on Cuba.
The White House said the actions were steps “to support the Cuban people as part of an understanding with the Catholic Church under the leadership of Pope Francis and improve the livelihoods of Cubans.”
“We take these steps in appreciation of the Catholic Church’s efforts to facilitate Cuba to take its own, constructive measures to restore liberty to its citizens and enable conditions that improve the livelihood of Cubans,” the White House statement said.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said Cuba’s announcement “is a sign of great hope at the beginning of this Jubilee,” Vatican News reported Jan. 15, and he said, “It is significant that the authorities in Havana linked this decision directly to Pope Francis’ appeal.”
The cardinal said other promising signs for the Jubilee Year include U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to commute the death sentences of dozens of federal inmates and the abolition of the death penalty in Zimbabwe in 2024.
“We hope that 2025 will continue in this direction and that good news will multiply, especially with a truce for the many ongoing conflicts,” he said.
Following the announcement, Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, retired archbishop of Boston, said that for the last several years he had carried messages from Pope Francis to the presidents of the United States and Cuba “seeking the release of prisoners in Cuba and improved relationships between the two countries for the good of the Cuban people.”
In the spirit of the Jubilee, which invites all people to foster forgiveness, reconciliation and various expressions of compassion, “I commend and welcome the decisions of the government of the United States and the government of Cuba to take steps that for years have seemed impossible,” the cardinal said Jan. 14 in a blog post.
The statement from Cuba’s foreign ministry made no mention of the United States’ measures, but noted discussions between Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, the Cuban foreign minister and Pope Francis on international issues “with emphasis on the unjust nature and nefarious effect of the U.S.-Cuba policy.”
“His Holiness has given unequivocal proofs of his empathy and love for the Cuban people,” it added.
In his bull of indiction formally proclaiming the Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis called on governments to implement “forms of amnesty or pardon” as well as “programs of reintegration” for prisoners. After inaugurating the Holy Year 2025 at the Vatican, the pope opened a Holy Door at Rome’s Rebibbia prison Dec. 26 as a symbol of hope for all incarcerated people.
The last major event of the Holy Year will be the “Jubilee of Prisoners” scheduled to take place in December 2025, during which prisoners will make a pilgrimage to St. Peter’s Basilica and celebrate Mass with the pope.
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