Coffin of deceased Cuban bishop had to be tied with tape

The images of the farewell on Sundayby Monsignor Alfredo Petit Vergel, auxiliary bishop emeritus of the Archdiocese of San Cristóbal de La Habana, show that the coffin appears surrounded by seal as if such a resource was needed to close it.

According to Palabra Nueva, the funeral services took place at the Colón Cemetery in the Cuban capital, and Monsignor Juan de Dios Hernández, bishop of Pinar del Río, read the prayer of response, and sprinkled “the coffin with holy water, which was also He offered incense, as a sign of the mystery of the resurrection.”

“Finally, Cardinal Juan de la Caridad García Rodríguez, archbishop of Havana, blessed those present, and the relatives of Bishop Petit thanked the support and closeness of the Church, especially in the last and difficult six months of the beloved's life. 85-year-old Cuban priest,” the publication states.

In a second text about the mass celebrated for the bishop, it is recalled that he “knew how to live his ministry of consecration to Cuba and its Church in the midst of a context of limitations and prejudices.”

Monsignor Alfredo Petit's box It is lined with black and white fabrics, and not with the traditional choice of a single tone (gray or black). In a recent newspaper report14 intervene Funeral home employees in several provinces said this was due to a shortage of raw materials to line the coffins.

Cuba is currently experiencing a tense situation exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, with high numbers of daily deaths, which have overwhelmed funeral services in several territories. Recently, Ihosvany Fernández Fernández, provincial director of Communal Services of the province of Guantánamo, acknowledged that, due to the saturation of local funeral transport, they were using ETECSA vans to transport the bodies.

Some days ago,Granma newspaper, official organ of the Communist Party of Cuba, recognized the existence of collective graves in the town of Juan González, in Santiago de Cuba, but assured that “there are no violations in burials” in that province.