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The Cuban priest Olbier Hernández, from Valencia, described the regime's decision to sell water “at a symbolic price” to the victims of Hurricane Melissa in the province of Granma as immoral, and defended the Christian duty to denounce injustice.
In a post on Facebook, Father Olbier Hernández stated that politics "is not a secular territory separate from the Gospel" and that a priest not only can, but must speak "when politics touches people's lives and the justice that the Gospel demands."
The religious figure reacted in this way to the measure announced by the municipal government of Río Cauto, where authorities informed that the water distributed to the victims of Hurricane Melissa will be sold for 40 pesos per household, described as “symbolic.”
"The Church, although it has a religious mission, possesses a light and an energy that can serve to structure and affirm the human community according to divine law," the priest recalled, quoting Catholic social doctrine.
"Speaking out against injustice is evangelical coherence, not partisanship," emphasized Hernández, insisting that proclaiming the Gospel involves denouncing all forms of oppression against the poor and the weak.
The priest's words arrive amid the discontent over the decisions of the Cuban regime in the areas devastated by Hurricane Melissa.
In addition to charging for water, the authorities of Río Cauto clarified this week that the mattresses provided to the disaster victims would not be donations, but rather goods partially subsidized by the State.
In his reflection, Hernández also recalled words from Pope Francis: "The proclamation of the Gospel requires a charity that becomes politics in the best sense — that is, one that transforms structures and promotes human dignity — without confusing pastoral mission with party militancy."
The Cuban priest, residing in Spain, concluded that the prophetic voice of the Church cannot remain silent in the face of measures that undermine human dignity.
"The priest must be a prophet of truth and a servant of freedom and justice," he wrote.
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