EWTN News reports that Bishop Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez of Palm Beach, Florida, during an interview following his March visit to Cuba, advocated for “greater internet access,” “political freedom,” and “freedom of expression” for Cubans, framing these demands as matters of “human dignity.” He described the release of over 2,000 prisoners by the communist regime as “a first step” and called for “dialogue and collaboration” with the Cuban authorities, assuring them that the Catholic Church “is no one’s enemy” and is not “married to any ideology.” This appeal, while cloaked in pastoral language, reveals the profound theological and strategic bankruptcy of the post-conciliar approach to communist tyranny—an approach rooted not in the unchanging doctrine of the Church but in the modernist errors condemned by the pre-1958 Magisterium.
The Primacy of the Supernatural Reduced to Naturalistic Humanism
Bishop Rodríguez’s framing of the Cuban crisis is symptomatic of the post-conciliar Church’s systematic reduction of the Faith to mere humanitarianism. When he speaks of “human dignity,” “freedom of expression,” and “internet access,” he borrows the language of secular liberalism—the very liberalism condemned in the Syllabus of Errors (1864), which anathematized the proposition that “the Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization” (Proposition 80). The bishop’s appeal contains no mention of the supernatural evils afflicting Cuba: the systematic persecution of the Faith, the suppression of the Most Holy Sacrifice, the destruction of Catholic education, the state-enforced atheism that constitutes a direct assault on the Kingship of Christ. Pius XI, in Quas Primas (1925), taught with unmistakable clarity that “the plague which poisons human society” is “the secularism of our times, so-called laicism,” and that “the hope of lasting peace will not yet shine upon nations as long as individuals and states renounce and do not wish to recognize the reign of our Savior.” The bishop’s silence on the public reign of Christ the King over Cuba—and over every nation—is not merely an omission; it is a doctrinal betrayal of the Church’s own infallible teaching.
“Dialogue” with Communist Tyranny: A Modernist Heresy in Action
The bishop’s insistence that “all of this must always proceed from an attitude of dialogue and collaboration” with the communist regime echoes the very ecumenical and interreligious dialogue condemned by the pre-1958 Magisterium. St. Pius X, in Lamentabili Sane Exitu (1907), condemned the modernist proposition that “the progress of sciences requires a reform of the concept of Christian doctrine concerning God, creation, Revelation, the Person of the Incarnate Word, and Redemption” (Proposition 64). The post-conciliar Church has precisely undertaken this “reform”—not of doctrine itself, but of its application, substituting the Church’s divine mandate to convert nations with a policy of diplomatic engagement with regimes that openly profess atheism and wage war against God. The bishop’s assurance that the Church “is no one’s enemy” and is not “married to any ideology” is a direct contradiction of the Church’s own self-understanding as the one true Ark of Salvation, outside of which there is no salvation (Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus). The Church is, by divine constitution, the enemy of every ideology contrary to the law of God—including communism, which Pius XI called “intrinsically perverse.”
The Omission of the Church’s Divine Mandate
Perhaps the most damning aspect of Bishop Rodríguez’s appeal is what it fails to say. There is no call for the conversion of Cuba to the Catholic Faith. There is no demand that the communist regime recognize the social Kingship of Christ. There is no mention of the necessity of the sacraments, the state of grace, or the eternal salvation of souls. The bishop speaks of “integral development” and “restoring the people’s dignity” in purely naturalistic terms—terms indistinguishable from those employed by the United Nations or any secular humanitarian organization. This is the inevitable fruit of the conciliar revolution: a Church that has lost its supernatural identity and reduced itself to a non-governmental organization advocating for “human rights” and “democratic freedoms.” The true Catholic position was articulated by Pius XI in Quas Primas: “Christ possesses… executive power, for all must obey His commands, and this under the threat of announced punishments, which the obstinate cannot escape.” A Catholic bishop demanding “internet access” and “political freedom” while remaining silent on the obligation of the Cuban state to submit to the law of Christ the King is not fulfilling his apostolic office—he is abdicating it.
The Illusory “First Step” and the Strategy of Incremental Capitulation
The bishop’s characterization of the release of 2,000 prisoners as “a first step toward a long-term and more stable solution” reveals the incrementalist strategy that has characterized the post-conciliar Church’s engagement with communist regimes since Ostpolitik. This strategy, far from liberating the faithful, has consistently resulted in the strengthening of communist governments and the weakening of the Church’s prophetic voice. The pre-1958 Magisterium recognized that cum impiis non est pax (“there is no peace with the impious”). The Church’s duty toward a regime that persecutes the Faith is not “dialogue” but condemnation and conversion. By treating the communist regime as a legitimate partner in dialogue, the bishop effectively legitimizes its authority—an authority that, by its open warfare against God, forfeits any claim to the obedience of the faithful.
Conclusion: The Bankruptcy of Conciliar Pastoral Practice
Bishop Rodríguez’s appeal for Cuba is a textbook example of the post-conciliar Church’s substitution of naturalistic humanism for supernatural Catholicism. By framing the crisis in terms of “human rights” and “dialogue” while remaining silent on the Kingship of Christ, the necessity of conversion, and the eternal destiny of souls, the bishop demonstrates that the conciliar sect has abandoned the Church’s divine mission. The faithful must recognize that true solidarity with the suffering Cuban people demands not “internet access” or “political freedom” in the liberal sense, but the restoration of the social Kingship of Christ, the preaching of the Gospel without compromise, and the condemnation of communism as intrinsically evil. Anything less is not Catholic pastoral practice—it is apostasy dressed in the language of compassion.
Source:
Florida bishop advocates for greater access to internet, political freedom for Cubans (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 12.04.2026