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The Cuban Christian community bid farewell this week to the Reverend Raimundo García Franco, a Presbyterian-Reformed pastor, historian, and founder of the Christian Center for Reflection and Dialogue-Cuba (CCRD), who passed away due to an illness in Finca Durañona in Marianao, Cuba.
The announcement of his passing was made by CCRD itself on its social media, where he was described as "a man of deep faith, an tireless sower of the Word, and a true builder of bridges for dialogue and understanding."
The Council of Churches of Cuba also expressed its sorrow over the loss, with a message acknowledging the significance of his legacy in Cuban ecumenism.
García Franco was born in El Cristo, Santiago de Cuba, in 1941, and was ordained to the pastoral ministry in 1964 within the Presbyterian-Reformed Church of Cuba, an institution he served for more than six decades.
He held a degree in History and Social Sciences, and also studied Theology, Psychology, and Journalism.
He founded the CCRD, based in Cárdenas, Matanzas, an organization dedicated to interfaith dialogue, social reconciliation, pastoral care for women victims of gender-based violence, and the promotion of human rights.
One of his most significant legacies was the book “Plain of Shadows. Diary of a Shepherd in the UMAP”, an autobiographical account of his confinement in the Military Units for Production Support, the forced labor camps created by Fidel Castro's regime between 1965 and 1968.
García Franco was hospitalized in those facilities, and his experience there ended in November 1967, months before the official closure of the UMAP in September 1968.
In those camps, between 25,000 and 35,000 people considered "undesirable" by the regime were confined: religious individuals of various denominations, homosexuals, and dissident intellectuals.
At least 252 people lost their lives in those facilities due to torture and suicide, and another 500 ended up under psychiatric care.
The book was published by the CCRD in 2019 and was also translated into English under the title "Plain of Darkness: A Pastor's Diary at UMAP."
The CCRD also organized meetings between former repressors and those repressed by the UMAP to promote forgiveness and reconciliation, an initiative that reflected the spirit that García Franco instilled in the institution from its inception.
He passed away a widower of Rita Morris Cabrero, who preceded him in death.
The CCRD closed its farewell message with a promise of continuity: "His works and his legacy of faith will continue to live on in the hearts of his family, friends, the Christian community, and his beloved people. May he now rest in the eternal peace of Christ, alongside his wife Rita Morris Cabrero."
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