Priest Alberto Reyes to the Cuban people: "The dictatorship, which was created without you, will not change without you."

The Cuban priest Alberto Reyes Pías has once again stirred social media with a profound reflection shared on his Facebook profile, where he issues an urgent and direct call to the Cuban people: freedom will not come on its own; it must be built through concrete actions, with courage and with truth.

The message is articulated as a moral and spiritual exhortation, but also as a clear critique of the current state of social paralysis that the Island is experiencing.

Reyes, known for his measured yet resolute tone, articulated what many think but few dare to voice: that the collective desire for justice, freedom, and progress will not come to fruition as long as the citizenry remains stagnant or bound by fear.

"We want freedom, justice, horizons, progress..." writes the priest, who acknowledges the legitimacy of these desires but confronts the reader with a crucial question: are we really taking the necessary steps to achieve them?

That "making process" becomes the focus of their reflection.

For Father Reyes, it is not about passive waiting or blind hope, but rather a series of concrete actions: speaking the truth without fear, refusing to participate in acts of political simulation, and standing in solidarity with those who suffer repression. Ultimately, it is about starting to build the Cuba that is dreamed of from now on.

"To try to exist now in the Cuba that we dream of today," he states, emphasizing that change is not just a future destination but a daily practice. Hence his call to practice forgiveness, dialogue, and respect amidst differences.

Reyes Pías also appeals to the spiritual dimension of social transformation, quoting Saint Augustine to emphasize individual and collective responsibility: "The God who created you without you will not save you without you," he writes, then reinterpreting it in a political context: "The Cuban dictatorship, which was created without you, will not change without you."

In a national context where dissent is often punished and censorship continues to limit free expression, your words take on a special significance.

They are not only a call to conscience but also a gesture of courage that reaffirms the role of certain sectors of the Church as a critical and hopeful voice within Cuban civil society.

Father Alberto Reyes continues to establish himself as a significant figure in the ethical and social reflection of Cuba, appealing not for violent confrontation, but for transformation rooted in dignity and moral courage.

Next, CiberCuba shares the full text of the publication.

I have been thinking… (109) by Alberto Reyes Pías

I have been thinking about a story that inspires me

A few years ago, in the city of Camagüey, a woman entered a church, sat down in the last pew, and began to cry. The priest saw her and sat down beside her.

"Father," the woman said, "it has been forty years since I left this church, and this is the first time in all that time that I have returned. I want to come back, but I don't know if everything I have done can be forgiven."

The priest, in response, pointed to the crucifix and said:

"Ma'am, how do the arms of Christ look? He has been waiting for you for forty years to give you a hug."

I have no further information about this story. Beautiful? Yes. Improvised? No, impossible. No one makes a decision of such magnitude suddenly. There must have been a moment, long before crossing the threshold of the church, when the need to return to a path of faith began to linger in the mind and heart of this woman.

There must have been a process in which, little by little, the barriers she had created for herself began to break down. There had to be an internal dialogue, lengthy and perhaps bitter, that led her to reconsider everything: the past, the present, and the future, a dialogue that made her free and reconciled her with the deepest parts of herself.

We are a people that desires many things, and these desires are completely valid: we want freedom, we want justice, opportunities, progress, self-determination as a civil society… we want an end to fear, to repression, to the internal blockade that has plunged our homeland into an ever-deepening paralysis. We want to reclaim the ideals of society that have always accompanied us, even when we witnessed the entrenchment of a totalitarian and stifling system.

We want to, but are we engaging in a process that allows us to cross the threshold to that freedom, that justice, that prosperity that are ready to embrace us?

Making progress means daring to speak the truth everywhere, not just behind closed doors; it involves respecting differing opinions, which does not preclude saying 'I disagree', but it should not resort to vulgar and offensive attacks that deny others their right to express themselves.

To undergo a process is to experience the decision of 'no', which acknowledges the inherent right to refrain from engaging in political endorsements that we truly do not wish to give. To undergo a process is to learn to stand in solidarity with those who are victims of injustices, abuse, and repression, simply because failing to do so allows evil to prevail; it perpetuates a social framework that we desire neither for ourselves nor for our children.

Making progress means training ourselves to forgive and engage in dialogue. Making progress is about trying to exist in the Cuba we dream of today.

Saint Augustine said: 'the God who created you without you will not save you without you'. And paraphrasing the saint, I believe we can say to the vast majority of our people: 'the Cuban dictatorship, which was made without you, will not change without you'.

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