1 Cuban bishop able to meet with Pope Leo XIV despite country’s fuel crisis

According to the pope’s daily agenda, Bishop Silvano Pedroso Montalvo of Guantánamo-Baracoa, Cuba, was in Rome on Friday, Feb. 20, for the ad limina visit of Cuban bishops and met with Pope Leo XIV this morning.

The Vatican press office did not provide further details of the unscheduled meeting. The prelate is one of the 17 bishops who comprise the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in Cuba, distributed among 11 ecclesiastical jurisdictions — three archdioceses and eight dioceses — covering the entire country.

The Cuban bishops’ ad limina visit to Rome was originally scheduled for Feb. 16–20 but was postponed due to the energy crisis the country is going through. Initially, the bishops announced they could not travel because of pastoral priorities amid the severe fuel shortage, in a context marked by tightened U.S. sanctions and uncertainty regarding oil supplies.

“The shepherds have prayed and understood that this is a time to be with the flock: praying, accompanying, serving,” Father Ariel Suárez, assistant secretary of the Cuban Bishops’ Conference, explained in an interview with Avvenire, the Italian bishops’ newspaper.

Ultimately, Bishop Pedroso Montalvo was able to travel to Rome and meet with the Holy Father during the traditional ad limina visit, the meeting bishops make periodically with the pope to inform him about the pastoral situation in their dioceses and to strengthen communion with the Holy See.

The prolonged economic and social crisis in Cuba — marked by a cumulative decline in GDP, shortages of basic goods, prolonged blackouts, and rising inflation — has complicated travel within and outside the country in recent months.

On Feb. 1, after reciting the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo XIV expressed his concern about the escalating tensions between Cuba and the United States. “Dear brothers and sisters, I have received with great concern news of increased tensions between Cuba and the United States of America, two neighboring countries,” the pope stated.

In his address, the pope explicitly joined the call of the Cuban bishops and urged the parties involved to choose the path of dialogue. “I join the message of the Cuban bishops, inviting all those responsible to promote a sincere and effective dialogue to avoid violence and any action that could increase the suffering of the beloved Cuban people,” he emphasized.

The pontiff’s words came after Washington issued an executive order by which President Donald Trump intensified economic pressure on Cuba through a strategy of cutting off oil shipments to the island.

On Feb. 18, the United States called on Cuba to address “very drastic changes very soon,” as it increases pressure on an island experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades. “It’s a regime that is collapsing. The country is collapsing, and we believe that what is best for them is to make very drastic changes very soon,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated at a press conference.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.