Cardinal Parolin: Cuba’s announcement to release prisoners sign of great hope
In response to Vatican Media, the Vatican Cardinal Secretary of State comments on the news from Havana.
By Vatican News
“The news of the announced gradual release of 553 Cuban prisoners is a sign of great hope at the start of this jubilee,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin said Wednesday in response to a request for comment from Vatican media.
“It is significant – added the cardinal currently in France – that the authorities in Havana have directly linked this decision to the appeal of Pope Francis, who, in the Bull of Indiction of the Jubilee, then on several other occasions, called for acts of clemency, as often happened during the Holy Year.
Cardinal Parolin noted that the year 2024 “ended with the commutation of dozens of death sentences to life imprisonment by the President of the United States and with the announcement of the abolition of the death penalty in Zimbabwe”.
“We hope that 2025 will continue in this direction and that good news will multiply, especially with a truce for the many ongoing conflicts,” he concluded.