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Ending the U.S. Blockade of Cuba
By Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN)
Date and time
Friday, May 18, 2018 · 4:30 - 8pm CDT
Location
McCormick Theological Seminary
5460 South University Avenue Chicago, IL 60615Refund Policy
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Description
Join us on Friday, May 18 to welcome Reverend Joel Ortega Dopico, President of the Cuban Council of Churches, to Chicago. He is visiting Chicago on a national tour of the U.S. to help build support for the IFCO/Pastors for Peace Friendshipment Caravans to Cuba and to advocate against the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba and in support of normal relations between the U.S. and Cuba. Pastor Ortega Dopico will share how Cubans are affected by the blockade and the critical role faith communities can play in finally ending it.
Biography - Reverend Joel Ortega Dopico is President of the Cuban Council of Churches and a pastor of the Presbyterian Reformed Church of Cuba. Originally from Cardenas in the province of Matanzas, Cuba, he studied at the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Matanzas graduating in 1997 with a Bachelor’s degree, and in 2002 with a Master’s degree.
In 2008 he became the Vice President of the Cuban Council of Churches and became its President in 2012. Reverend Ortega Dopico participated in the visits of Pope Francis and of President Obama to Cuba. He attended the historic opening of the Cuban Embassy in Washington D.C., and the U.S. Embassy in Havana. The Cuban Council of Churches plays an important role in mutual understanding and normalization between Cuba and U.S. He receives visits of U.S. legislators in his office in Havana and has visited legislators’ offices in Washington D.C. He works closely with churches and people in the U.S. to support the move toward normal relations between the churches and people in both countries.
McCormick Theological Seminary at 5460 S. University, Chicago, IL 60615
Friday, May 18 / Reception: 4:30 to 6:00 pm / Program: 6:00-8:00
Please RSVP at https://endtheblockade.eventbrite.com
For more information contact Marilyn McKenna at 773-293-3680 or mmckenna@crln.org
This event is sponsored by:
Center for the Study of Latin@ Ministries and Theology at McCormick Theological Seminary
Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America
Parking Information: The Seminary will be on break so you may find parking in their parking lot near the front door. Otherwise there is street parking and a parking lot 2 blocks away. The parking lot of the University of Chicago is called Ellis Garage (Campus North Parking). It has a visitor parking section. Visitor parking rates at Ellis Garage are: 0-2 hours - $12, 2-3 hours - $16, 3-4 hours - $22, 4-24 hours - $28. These rates apply 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including holidays.
Effects of the U.S. embargo in Cuba - The U.S. embargo of Cuba causes suffering and even death for ordinary Cuban people who do not have access to critical medications. The Rev. Joel Ortega Dopico, president of the Council of Churches of Cuba, said, "The embargo needs to end, not because it is illegal under international law, not because it is opposed by the U.N., but because it makes people suffer. God does not want people to suffer."
The embargo affects not only medical imports and the exchange of technology with the U.S., it also blocks many imports from European companies that do business in the U.S. Dopico told the story of a family of Cuban doctors whose son is a doctor in the U.S. The father, a pediatrician, needed heart surgery, but the son was unable to help supply the needed equipment until he went directly to a German manufacturer. Luckily, this firm did not have U.S. ties that would have blocked the sale.
Dopico asked, "How could a family who spends their lives saving others in both Cuba and the U.S. be blocked from sharing the technology that is critical for their own health?"
The most frequent victims of the embargo are patients who need cancer medication, including children. Dopico said that the embargo is really multiple obstacles: "If you open one door, you find 3 or 4 more doors that continue to block the help needed." Cuban medical schools are highly rated, however doctors lack access to the medicines and technology that their patients need.
The General Synod Resolution "Ending the U.S. Embargo on Cuba" calls for increased delegations and visits between the U.S. and Cuba, advocacy for full normalization of relations, restoration of mutual dignity between the two nations, and openness for American churches to learn from the Cuban experience. Cuban churches have lived and ministered without access to privilege and power, and "This is how Jesus lived." The resolution calls on American Christians to be renewed by learning that "the authority of the church is not assumed through social privilege."
The Revs. Elmer Lavastida and Gisela Muniz Lavastida, founders of the B.G. Lavistida Christian Center in Santiago de Cuba, which has assisted churches with social responsibility and social justice since 1995, said that increased exchange between the U.S. and Cuba is a witness to faith. "This movement to end the embargo is a witness to the Cuban people of what it means to be the church."
Twelve denominations support the Christian Center, and "like the UCC, we encourage wholistic ministry in the community." Gisela Muniz added that the Center hopes to develop strong women's leadership, and "sisterhood with UCC women can strengthen this growth."
source: http://www.ucc.org/news_gs_cuban_embargo_causes_suffering_general_synod_resolves_to_open_doors_07032017
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