JOINT
DECLARATION
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA – Cuban Council of
Churches
Over the past four decades, Protestant churches have, on countless
occasions and in diverse ways, served as links between the peoples of Cuba and the United
States. The Church, as the People of God, has
always attempted to transcend borders in order to serve as an instrument of justice,
reconciliation and unity. The Church stands
as a voice of faith and hope refusing to accept as immutable and definitive elements and
barriers that alienate and isolate human beings.
The nearly half-century of bilateral relations between our two
countries has been characterized by a unique confrontational and hostile policy. It is the story of a frustrated friendly
coexistence of two nations generated during the most hostile moments of the so-called
“Cold War Era,” and era prolonged beyond all possible rational and logical
thinking and against the best interests of the peoples of the United States and
Cuba.
On October 14, 1973 the General Board of the National Council of
Churches of Christ – NCCC – petitioned: “the U.S. Congress and President to
modify its policy of the past decade and begin working towards bilateral commercial
exchange and mutual assistance with Cuba.” Today’s
Council of Churches of Cuba – CIC –, for its part, has on several occasions
during its history as an Evangelical and Ecumenical Council (as well as at different
instances and at its recent general Assembly), declared itself in favor of searching for
new ways towards dialogue and understanding between the peoples and governments of Cuba
and the United States. During the past three
decades, both councils and their member churches have repeatedly urged the lifting of both
the economic and financial embargoes of the island.
Repeated requests by an overwhelming majority of United Nations’
members, the World Council of Churches, the Caribbean Conference of Churches, the Latin
American Council of Churches and most recently by Pope John Paul II, have called for
changes that would lead to the improvement of bilateral relationships between both
countries. Although the objectives of such
proposals for change have not yet been achieved at the U.S. Congress and Government, we
have already seen an increasing presence of the Cuban issue during debates, along with
sincere interest to open new doors in our relationship.
The joint work of both council, along with the struggle waged by the
Cuban people and the action of U.S. public opinion and world personalities for the return
to Cuba of Elian Gonzalez have given a human character to the Cuban issue and have thus
broken the silence that existed in the United States about Cuba. There are signs that we are now at the doors of
new and promising opportunities.
Illegal departures that tragically result in the death of human
beings and extreme pain for Cuban families due to such irreparable loss of relatives,
serve to strengthen the commitment by both councils to advocate for the change of
regulations and migration laws encouraging illegal departures from Cuba to the United
States.
In the face of challenges and opportunities and evangelical
principles and institutional policies, the National Council of Churches in the United
States and the Council of Churches of Cuba reiterate their commitment to continue taking
new and significant steps, based on mutual solidarity between our two peoples to find ways
towards a dialogue that respects our differences and recognized and strengthens our
similarities as people. Such an effort
suggests the participation buy other sectors pursuing the same goad of achieving normal
relations between our two peoples and governments.
In order to support the initiative, the NCCC and the CIC will
establish a fund dedicated to financing a project of exchange through the Councils among
U.S. and Cuban citizens. This exchange will
encourage us to explore our human richness, share knowledge, experience and dreams. It will also serve as an appropriate context for
intercessory prayers for each other in the Spirit of the Gospel. It will seek to establish that respect for the
sovereignty and self-determination of nations, which are crucial to harmonious
relationships among neighbors.
To achieve these goals, the NCCC and the CIC will:
Aware of the irrevocable ecumenical vocation of today’s Church
of Jesus Christ; aware that all its missions are marked by the need to testify to the
Gospel within the current context of increasing interdependence, and therefore convinced
of the common destination awaiting all the countries of the world, both council invite all
churches in Latin America, the Caribbean and North America to jointly cultivate, among all
of us, a spirit of Christian solidarity that unites us in our common struggle for a world
of justice and peace.
At the beginning of a new millennium and in this period of jubilee
announcing the forgiveness of our debts and the restitution of right and justice, the
National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States and the Council of Churches of
Cuba rejoice in the fact of having been able to join efforts in this venture of faith; a
venture of faith that stands for the restitution of rights and justice in bilateral
relations between our two countries will lead us towards a new stage of understanding,
crowned by equality and fraternity for the good of our people.
We will both work towards:
And we follow the words of written by the poet:
No East or West can be found in Christ,
No South or North threatening with war, but
Just one single loving communion
Which tightly embraces the Earth all
Isaiah 2:4
The Lord will judge among the Nations and decide the differences of
the people.
They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks and they
will study war no more.
The Reverend Dr. Bob Edgar, General
Secretary of the NCCC
Dr. Reinerio Arce Valentin, President of the CIC
Havana, September 6, 2000.