Churches in Puerto Rico and Panama rush communion hosts to Cuba

Photo by Eric Mok on Unsplash

Source: Archdioceses of San Juan, Panama, CCCB

Priests in Cuba were recently advised to ration communion wafers, because of severe shortages. For many years, the Discalced Carmelite Mothers of the Monastery of Saint Teresa and Saint Joseph, in El Vedado, have been the sole producers of communion wafers for Catholic parishes across Cuba. However, their operations have virtually come to a halt due to prolonged power cuts, made worse by a five-month-old US oil blockade.

The sisters said a statement: "Due to the lack of electricity, we are unable to produce the hosts," and announced that the available reserves would be rationed to try and supply all Catholic communities in the country.

On hearing this news, the Archbishop of San Juan, in Puerto Rico, Mgr Roberto González Nieves, called upon parishes, priests, and religious communities to assist the Cuban Church. Through this campaign, they managed to gather around 300,000 hosts, many of them prepared by the Dominican Sisters of the Monastery Madre de Dios in Manatí.

The Archdiocese of Panama also rushed to aid the Church in Cuba. According to an official statement signed by Archbishop José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta on the archdiocese's institutional account, they have already contributed another 35,000 hosts made by the Sisters of the Monastery of the Visitation. This shipment was transported for free by Copa Airlines to Havana and received by the Parish of the Miraculous Medal in Guanabacoa, under the care of Fr José M Araya.

In an accompanying letter, Archbishop Mendieta said: "The Eucharist is the sacrament of unity. Around the same Bread of Life, we recognize ourselves as brothers and members of one Body. Therefore, when a community lacks what is necessary to celebrate this mystery, we feel the evangelical duty to reach out and accompany them."

This is the second time in less than five years that the Carmelites in Cuba have had to cease or limit production. In 2022, it was due to a flour shortage.

Cuba is currently enduring one of its worst energy crises in recent history, with power generation deficits exceeding 2,000 megawatts and blackouts lasting over 20 hours in some areas.

The challenges also extend to the distribution of humanitarian aid. Miami's Archbishop, Mgr Thomas Wenski, recently highlighted how fuel shortages have complicated the transport of donations within the island, even necessitating the use of horse-drawn carts to deliver food to impoverished communities.

Last May, the President of the Cuban Conference of Catholic Bishops, Mgr Arturo González Amador, described the situation as "the most difficult and saddest moment in the history of my people that I can remember."