October 1, 2009

The Episcopal Public Policy Network (EPPN) is urging individuals to join advocates throughout the United States in calling on Congress to end the ban on American travel to Cuba.

"The travel ban has done nothing, over the past five decades, to weaken the Cuban government or to prompt reforms in political or human rights," a September 30 EPPN alert said. "Most importantly, the Cuban people have been harmed by the ban because they have been cut off from the friendship and support of the American people."

The EPPN alert, which is emailed to about 25,000 Episcopalians and religious advocates, said that during the Bush administration, "the ban was extended to include religious groups like the Episcopal Church with longstanding pastoral relationships with their counterparts in Cuba. A majority of Americans, a majority of Cuban Americans, and a broad array of human-rights, religious, and humanitarian groups support ending the ban."

The alert notes that bipartisan legislation – the Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act (H.R.874) – to end the 50-year-old travel ban is gaining momentum and cosponsors in Congress. "We believe a majority of lawmakers in both chambers support the repeal of the travel ban, and – unlike years past – the President of the United States also has called for ending the policy," the alert said.

Through the EPPN website, individuals can send a letter asking their legislators to cosponsor the Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act and to bring it to a vote in the House this fall.

The Episcopal Church's General Convention in July passed legislation (Resolution A034) urging "continued advocacy and prayer from Episcopalians for an end to the United States embargo against Cuba, particularly provisions that hamper the mission of the Church in Cuba, including the restrictions on U.S. citizens traveling to Cuba, stringent limits on financial remittances from the U.S. to Cubans and severe restrictions on the ability of Cuban citizens to visit the United States."

An Executive Council resolution from November 2006 also called for an immediate end to the embargo and urged dioceses and congregations in the Episcopal Church to "consider the establishment of companion relationships with the Episcopal Church of Cuba."

The Episcopal Church in Cuba is governed by a Metropolitan Council, composed of the primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church and the primate of the West Indies. The council has overseen the church in Cuba since it separated from the Episcopal Church in 1967.

Episcopal News Service