Outspoken Cuban priest cries foul as country marks Good Friday

HAVANA: Cuban Roman Catholics held public processions across the Communist-run country on Friday to mark Good Friday, but there was at least one exception in Havana where 150 of the faithful were relegated to the church parking lot.

Father Lester Zayas Diaz, 45, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish of Vedado, told Reuters the government denied his parish permission to hold the Holy Burial procession off church grounds to punish him for speaking openly in his often-fiery sermons, live streamed on Facebook, about hardships Cubans face.

“It is not possible today to introduce Jesus Christ without introducing to him a people who are having a hard time,” he said.

“It is impossible to talk about Jesus Christ without talking about children who today go to school without having breakfast,” Zayas said, adding the procession would go on, but in the Church parking lot, later witnessed by Reuters.

The Cuban government did not respond to a request for comment.

The Caribbean Island nation has been mired in crisis since the decade began with the population suffering blackouts, hyperinflation and shortages of food and other essential items.

Rising social tensions have led to more unrest than the island has seen since the 1959 revolution and mass migration mainly to the U.S.