Bishop Manuel A. Cruz, a Cuban-American and an auxiliary of the Newark Archdiocese, told the congregation at a West New York Catholic church that “the hour has come to say ‘ENOUGH.’” “Our people, the Cuban people, helpless as they are, are being massacred by the tyranny of the Cuban regime. Today we say ‘enough is enough’ to that genocide,” he said.
Cruz joined more than a dozen clergy from the Arch-diocese of Newark and the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey, along with the Cuban and Latino community, at St. Joseph of the Palisades Church for a July 18 prayer vigil in solidarity with the people of Cuba.
The service was for the brothers and sisters of the island of Cuba who continue to go through the trials and tribulations of their nation or, as one of the priests mentioned in his prayer, “for the people who cross their desert” to achieve above all the freedom that Jesus promised.
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark presided. Also in atten-dance were Auxiliary Bishops Gregory J. Studerus and Michael A. Saporito of Newark and Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney of Paterson. The Catholic leaders expressed their support for the Cuban people of the island, along with the Cuban diaspora found in the United States.