It is a matter of public interest to recall that while Cardinal Casaroli was Archbishop Casaroli, as Secretary of the Vatican's Council for Public Affairs, under Pope Paul VI, he visited Cuba. He commented on this visit. He stressed that "the Catholics who live in Cuba are happy under the socialist regime."

It is not necessary to say what kind of socialist regime he refers to, for it is well known that the regime existing in Cuba is a Communist one.

His Excellency, in speaking of Fidel Castro's regime, went on to say that "the Catholics and the Cuban people in general do not have the slightest problem with the socialist government."

Possibly to give an air of impartiality to these amazing declarations, Archbishop Casaroli then lamented that the number of priests in Cuba is nevertheless insufficient: a mere 200. He indicated, furthermore, that he had asked Castro to permit greater opportunity for public worship. And he concluded by stating quite unexpectedly that "the Catholics of the island are as respected for their beliefs as any of the other citizens."

If one considers only what is immediately apparent in these declarations, it is perplexing to discover that Archbishop Casaroli, while recognizing that Cuban Catholics suffer restrictions in their public worship, states at the same time that they are "respected for their beliefs." As if the right of public worship was not one of the most sacred of their Rights.

If the non-Catholic subjects of the Cuban regime are respected as much as the Catholics, then one can say that in Cuba nobody is respected...

What, then, is the nature of this happiness, which according to Archbishop Casaroli the Cuban Catholics enjoy? It seems to be the harsh happiness dispensed by the Communist regime to all of its subjects, that is, the bowing of their heads under it. So Archbishop Casaroli states that "the Cuban Catholic Church and her spiritual guide always take care not to create any problem for the socialist regime which rules the island."

Catholics who take seriously the encyclicals of Leo XIII, Pius XI and Pius XII know that these Popes taught that a Communist regime is the opposite of the natural order of things. And the subversion of the natural order - can only bring catastrophic fruits. Accordingly, Catholics anywhere in the world who might be naive or ill-informed on the true social doctrine of the Church, upon reading the results of Archbishop Casaroli's visit to Cuba, will be led to a conclusion diametrically opposed to reality. In other words, they will believe there is nothing to fear from the implantation of Communism in the various countries, for according to this hypothesis they will be perfectly "happy," both with respect to their religious interests and their material circumstances.

The obvious truth is this: Archbishop Casaroli's trip to Cuba resulted in a whitewash of Castro's regime.

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