Archdioceses of Indianapolis and Camagüey
share faith and build friendships

By Mary Ann Wyand

“Bienvenido! Welcome!”

The sign proclaiming “Thanks, our brothers from Indianapolis” printed in English offered a heartfelt welcome to the four-member delegation from the Archdio-cese of Indianapolis who traveled to Camagüey, Cuba, on Jan. 25-30 as part of the Global Solidarity Partnership sponsored by Catholic Relief Services ( CRS), based in Baltimore.

Msgr. Joseph F. Schaedel, vicar general and pastor of Holy Rosary Parish in Indianapolis, represented Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein during the fifth exchange visit arranged by CRS with the Archdiocese of Camagüey, the Indianapo-lis archdiocese’s partner in central Cuba.

Other archdiocesan representatives were David Siler, executive director of the Secretariat for Catholic Charities and Family Ministries, who is a member of St. Matthew Parish in Indianapolis, as well as volunteers Nick Runnebohm of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Shelby County and St. Andrew the Apostle parishioner Charles Schisla of Indianapolis.

The Global Solidarity Partnership between the archdioceses of Indianapolis and Camagüey began five years ago when a group of St. Barnabas and St. Luke parishioners in Indianapolis asked Catholic Relief Services officials in Baltimore to help them organize Community Understanding by Action ( C.U.B.A.) so they could offer their friendship to Cuban Catholics as members of the universal Church.

During their visit, the archdiocesan delegation traveled with Brian Goonan, CRS country representative to Cuba, and met with Archbishop Juan Garcia of Camagüey to discuss ways that the two archdioceses can continue to strengthen their Church partnership.

Other highlights of the trip included meeting four seminarians and visiting Church ministries provided by Caritas Cuba in Havana and Camagüey as well as visiting programs that assist the elderly.

After returning home, Msgr. Schaedel said he was grateful to Archbishop Buechlein and Catholic Relief Services for allowing him to travel to Cuba to visit Catholic parishes, tour Church ministries and meet so many wonderful people there.

“I don’t think I would have ever understood as clearly as I do now the situation there,” he said. “It also served to give me a much better understanding and appreciation of the work that CRS supports in Cuba in conjunction with its partner, Caritas Cuba.

“This is the first time that I have ever visited a country where the work of the Church is limited by a government,” the vicar general said. “At the same time, I was a bit surprised that the Church was allowed to do many things that I had imagined they would not be allowed to do. … Parishes have regular Mass schedules, seminaries are open [and] religious wear the religious habit in public.”

Msgr. Schaedel said “ Cuba is a beautiful country with wonderful people and a true spirit of pride in being Cuban and in being Catholic.”

Most impressive, he said, was “the fidelity of so many people—especially young people—to the Church. Cuba is a place where, out of necessity, lay leadership has grown and developed by leaps and bounds. The energy and dedication of the Cuban lay Catholics along with priests and religious—whose numbers have been severely lessened—is marvelous.”

Msgr. Schaedel said it was interesting to learn about how Catholics keep their faith alive in a socialist country.

“The message our delegation came to bring was a message of hope and of solidarity,” the vicar general said. “We are together as Church.”

Nick Runnebohm began volunteering for the Indianapolis archdiocese’s Global Solidarity Partnership program with CRS in 1999 and has visited Cuba three times.

“It was a very good experience,” Runnebohm said of the January visit to Camagüey. “The Cuban people are just wonderful people. It really makes you feel good to go down there and work with them. I thought it was extremely important to the partnership to have Monsignor Schaedel visit Cuba.”

Reflecting on his Catholic Charities work in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, David Siler said he knows firsthand how important it is for Catholics in central and southern Indiana to support the Church’s home mission efforts as well as help with Church outreach programs for people living in other countries.

“I am … profoundly grateful to Catholic Relief Services and specifically Brian Goonan for their work in Cuba,” Siler said. “It was very clear to me that the work that Brian and his predecessors have done has paved the way for an open and trusting relationship with the Church in Camagüey. We were so warmly welcomed and cared for during our visit.”

Siler said he will always remember “the warmth and friendliness of our brothers and sisters” in Camagüey and Havana.

“I was amazed by the closeness of our hosts,” he said, “but even more impressed with how easily they made us feel a part of their ‘family.’ I felt a sense of true Church more deeply than I ever have in my life.”

During their visit, Siler said the delegation had many opportunities to share faith, hope and friendship with Cuban Catholics.

“We were told by many of our Cuban friends that the most important aspect of the solidarity partnership between Indianapolis and Camagüey is the sense of belonging that it gives to them,” he said. “The director of Caritas Cuba put it best when she said that, ‘If nothing comes from our partnership besides our sense of belonging to a larger Church, then that is enough for us.’ She said that our presence, care and concern for them gives them a sense of hope.”

While visiting a catechetical program in Camagüey, Siler said, a young mother asked the Indianapolis delegation to remember the people in her village in their daily prayers.

“I had a wonderful conversation with Padre Carlos Juan, one of our main hosts in Camagüey,” Siler said. “He asked me if I thought that in the United States the many material things that we have get in between us and God. He wondered if, since we have so much comfort and so many of our needs and wants met, we lose a sense of our need for God. He told me that in Cuba they have little that comes between them and God, so the path to God is very close. I told him that, ‘Yes, indeed, our material wealth gets in the way.’

“I found myself feeling a strange sense of jealousy,” Siler said. “I wondered if life might be better in some ways without the many luxuries that I have become accustomed. I wondered if their worries might be fewer and their sense of what is truly important in life might be stronger.

“I learned so many things and had reinforced so many things that I already knew,” Siler said. “I was reminded that what really matters in life are love, family, friends, faith, hope and freedom. I have a new appreciation for these things in my life. I will be forever grateful to the people of Cuba for allowing me to share their lives for a short time.”

(To request a parish or school presentation about Catholic Relief Services’ Global Solidarity Partnership with the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and Archdiocese of Camagüey, Cuba, call Sister Demetria Smith, a Missionary Sister of Our Lady of Africa and the mission educator for the archdiocese, at the archdiocesan Mission Office at 317-236-1485 or 800-382-9836, ext. 1485.) †