Cuba’s humanitarian crisis has reached a breaking point, and the Catholic Church is increasingly becoming one of the last places where the neediest can turn.
Bishop Arturo González Amador of Santa Clara, president of the Cuban Bishops’ Conference, told Aid to the Church in Need that the island is living through “the saddest and most difficult time” he has known in his country’s history. “Everything is a struggle to survive,” the 70-year-old bishop said.
Food, electricity, medicine, fuel, and water have become daily concerns. In parishes, the crisis has a human face: elderly people living alone, pensioners, single mothers, the sick, and people with disabilities. Some come to the church after days without eating. Others faint during Mass, weakened by hunger.
Hospitals are also struggling. Bishop González said some major hospitals have had to suspend surgeries because they lack running water and essential supplies. Families often rely on relatives abroad to obtain medicines or even basic surgical materials.
Fear and exhaustion are spreading alongside the shortages. Many Cubans are anxious about the future, while migration continues to reshape the country. Those who can leave often do; those left behind are frequently the most vulnerable.
Yet the Church remains. Priests, religious sisters, and lay volunteers are organizing soup kitchens, bringing food to the homebound, and keeping parish life alive despite soaring prices and fuel shortages. In one case, sisters feeding hundreds stretched a small supply of beans into more meals.
Bishop González called this quiet charity a sign of God’s providence and Christian love. For many Cubans, it is also proof that they have not been abandoned.
Rome prays for Cuba
On May 15, Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, celebrated Mass in Rome for peace and social development in Cuba.
He prayed for Cuban families, young people seeking hope, those who govern, and all who suffer. Drawing on Catholic social teaching, he said peace must be built on truth, justice, freedom, and love, and urged that humanitarian aid reach the Cuban people without political manipulation.
“Their sorrow will turn into joy,” he said, invoking the Gospel promise as a word of hope for Cuba.
