‘In our hearts, there is a grief that cannot be spoken’ – Prayer vigil held in support of people of Cuba

Livestream recording of a prayer vigil held July 18 at St. Joseph of the Palisades Parish in West New York, N.J. Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., and other Catholic leaders in New Jersey lead the prayer vigil for the people of Cuba. They called for prayer and Solidarity to “Save Cuba from Tears and Anxiety” (“Salva a Cuba de Llantos y Afán”).

More than a dozen clergy from the Archdiocese of Newark and the Diocese of Paterson, along with the Cuban and Latino community, gathered in solidarity for the people of Cuba during a Sunday prayer vigil at St. Joseph of the Palisades Parish July 18 in West New York, N.J.

“The hour has come to say ‘ENOUGH,’ said Bishop Manuel A. Cruz, D.D. a Cuban-American and auxiliary of the Archdiocese of Newark during the vigil. “Our people, the Cuban people, helpless as they are, are being massacred by the tyranny of the Cuban regime. Today we say ‘enough is enough’ to that genocide.” 


Read the full transcript of Bishop Cruz’s message in English and Spanish here.


Thousands of Cubans in Havana and elsewhere took to the streets July 11 to protest economic hardships, lack of basic freedoms and the Cuban government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak, making for what some have described as the most significant unrest in decades.

Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., archbishop of Newark, presided at Sunday’s prayer vigil. Along with Bishop Cruz, he was accompanied by Bishops Gregory J. Studerus and Michael A. Saporito, also auxiliaries of Newark. The bishop of the Diocese of Paterson, Kevin J. Sweeney, was also in attendance.

They took turns expressing support for the Cuban people of the island, along with the Cuban diaspora found in the United States. They implored the island’s patron saint, Our Lady of “Caridad del Cobre,” for an end to the suffering and cried for God to “save Cuba of tears and toil.” Read the full coverage in English or Spanish at Jersey Catholic, the Archdiocesan news website.