CUBA: Religious Sisters protecting Church from antisocial youth in remote village

Religious sisters have been holding the fort – dealing with wild youths – in a remote part of Cuba that priests can only visit once a month.

The Missionary Sisters of Jesus, Word and Victim (Misioneras de Jesús Verbo y Víctima) (JVV) have been entrusted with the parish of Guasimal in Sancti Spiritus, part of Santa Clara Diocese in central Cuba.

The church is open daily and with activities regularly taking place for adults and children the parish has flourished.

But the entrance to the building has seen antisocial behaviour from young people.

Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) was told that some youths are rude to parishioners and prevent them from entering the church, which locals say “offends both God and His house”.

Bishop Marcelo Arturo González Amador, of Santa Clara, has asked ACN for help to build a fence around the entrance as the missionaries do not receive an income from parishioners.

He said: “These sisters are a great gift from God to this diocese. They live a very sober and dedicated religious life, consecrated full time to the Lord and to the mission.”

JVV was founded in Peru in 1961 and is now present in seven Latin American countries, including Cuba.

Since 2015, the JVV congregation in Cuba has been based in Guasimal, an extremely poor area, where there are more than 27,000 Catholic faithful for every priest.

The Sisters have been assisting the priests that visit once a month to hear confessions, celebrate Masses and anoint the sick.

Recognisable by their blue habits, they provide catechesis, spiritual guidance, and practical help to people in abandoned areas.

Bishop Amador said: “Their spiritual life is serious and serene. Their apostolate in the most difficult and intricate places is carried out with love, constancy and fidelity. They deserve to be heard and supported in their requests.”

ACN has helped the Sisters for several years – the charity provided a roof for the church – and they have thanked the charity and benefactors   for this latest support.

Alluding to Job (2:10), Mother Superior Ayelen She said: “Whatever God does is good, whatever God allows is necessary.”

She added: “This year we have experienced how difficult and hard life is in a country with such an ideology as this one, and which is a beautiful country because of its nature, because of its kind, noble and generous people.

“We feel blessed to be able to count on your support to live in these Caribbean countries that are so dear to us, because the missionary's home is the Church. Through you we feel that God is protecting us with his providence.

“We are happy to make God's love present here in Cuba and to be a testimony of his existence to a people who are looking for him and who need him so much.”