Cuban Arrests Skyrocket & Adam Is a Myth

TIA,

In the aftermath of the Pope’s visit to Cuba, it has been learned that Cuban police carried out 1,158 political detentions in March — mostly to keep dissidents away from Pope Benedict XVI. This is the most since the mass roundups during the Bay of Pigs invasion five decades ago. More than half the “arbitrary detentions for political motives” and house arrests reported during March took place in the days just before and during the papal visit, the report noted, in a clear campaign to block their participation in papal events.

The report came from the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation in Havana. The news adds fuel to complaints that the pope and Cuban Catholic Church turned a blind eye to the communist government’s human rights abuses during Pope Benedict XVI’s supposedly “pastoral” visit.

The dissident Ladies in White have asked for a meeting with Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino “because the repression has grown worse here in Cuba, and what we’re seeing is a total silence on the part of the church,” group leader Bertha Soler said Tuesday.

The 40-page report, which included names and dates for each detention, was the hardest evidence yet that the government cracked down on dissent roughly at the same time Benedict was visiting.

I believe this shows what a farce the whole visit was.

Read more here.

Please, help us spread this news.

     Sincerely,

     P.T.

TIA,

In the The New Republic, Yale professor Carlos Eire expresses regret that Pope Benedict XVI did not offer any direct public criticism of the Castro regime during his visit to Cuba.

He said: “On his recent trip, Benedict could have advocated human rights, or protection for Cuban dissidents, many of whom are Catholic themselves. But on all these issues, he largely kept silent.”

     G.C.L.

TIA,

A leading human rights activist says Cuban authorities have again detained a man who yelled anti-government slogans at a Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI.

Elizardo Sanchez says Andres Carrion Alvarez was locked up on Monday in the eastern city of Santiago.

Carrion was originally arrested March 26 after shouting "Down with the Revolution! Down with the dictatorship!" at the pontiff's Mass in Santiago's main plaza. He was released several days ago. Sanchez said Tuesday that Carrion has been charged with public disorder.

     H.T.

TIA,

This news is shocking, especially since Cardinal Pell is held by many to be a ‘conservative.’

In the news below, however, he clearly states that Adam and Eve did not exist. It seems he is part of the Benedict XVI’s ‘revolution’ of an “enlarged vision of the Catholic Church.” An "enlarged vision" where souls need not believe in the historical reality of Genesis, Adam and Eve, the serpent, the fall of mankind, original sin and the utter necessity of a Redeemer to save all men from the catastrophic consequents of this sin (as such obsolete beliefs harm ecumenism).

     M.S.
______________________

In comments that may shock some staunch Catholics, Cardinal George Pell has described the biblical story of Adam and Eve as a myth.

He appeared alongside renowned evolutionary biologist and atheist, Professor Richard Dawkins, on the ABC's Q&A program last night.

Cardinal Pell said the existence of Adam and Eve was not a matter of science but rather a mythological account.

"It's a very sophisticated mythology to try to explain the evil and the suffering in the world," he said.

"It's a religious story told for religious purposes."

According to Genesis, God created Adam and Eve as the first man and woman and all people are descended from them.

Cardinal Pell's explosive comments came after he was questioned about evolution.

He said it was impossible to say when there was a first human.

It is widely accepted in the scientific community that life on Earth has evolved over about four billion years. (Original here)