Priest Alberto Reyes Calls on Cubans: "The Dictatorship Established Without You Won't Change Without You"

Cuban priest Alberto Reyes Pías has once again sent ripples through social media with a profound reflection shared on his Facebook profile. He issues a direct and urgent call to the Cuban people: freedom will not come on its own—it must be built through concrete actions, courage, and truth. His message is framed as a moral and spiritual exhortation but also serves as a pointed critique of the current state of social paralysis gripping the Island.

Reyes, noted for his calm yet resolute tone, voiced what many feel but few dare to express openly: the collective yearning for justice, freedom, and progress will remain unfulfilled as long as citizens remain passive or shackled by fear. "We want freedom, justice, horizons, progress," the priest writes, acknowledging the legitimacy of these aspirations but challenging the reader with a crucial question: Are we truly undertaking the necessary process to achieve them?

The concept of "making a process" becomes the cornerstone of his reflection. For Father Reyes, this is not about passive waiting or blind hope; it involves a series of deliberate actions: speaking the truth without fear, refusing to participate in political charades, and standing in solidarity with those who suffer repression. Essentially, it's about beginning to build the Cuba of our dreams now.

Striving for a Dreamed Cuba

"Try to exist already in the Cuba we dream of today," he asserts, emphasizing that change is not solely a future goal but a daily practice. He calls for forgiveness, dialogue, and respect amidst differences. Reyes Pías also appeals to the spiritual dimension of social transformation, citing Saint Augustine to underscore individual and collective responsibility: "The God who created you without you will not save you without you," he writes, reinterpreting this politically as, "The Cuban dictatorship, which was established without you, will not change without you."

In a national context where dissent is often punished and censorship continues to stifle free expression, his words carry particular weight. They are not just a call to conscience but also an act of courage, reaffirming the role of certain Church sectors as a critical and hopeful voice within Cuban civil society.

Ethical and Social Reflection in Cuba

Father Alberto Reyes remains a significant figure in Cuba's ethical and social discourse, advocating for transformation through dignity and moral courage rather than violent confrontation. Below is the complete text of his publication on CiberCuba.

"I've been thinking… (109) by Alberto Reyes Pías

I've been reflecting on a story that inspires me. A few years ago, in the city of Camagüey, a woman entered a church, sat in the last pew, and began to cry. The priest saw her and sat beside her.

‘Father,’ the woman said, ‘I left this church forty years ago, and this is the first time I've entered it since. I want to return, but I don't know if everything I've done can be forgiven.’

The priest simply pointed to the crucifix and said, ‘Ma'am, how does Christ have his arms? He has been waiting forty years to embrace you.’

I don't have more details about this story. Beautiful? Yes. Spontaneous? No, impossible. No one makes such a significant decision suddenly. There must have been a moment, long before crossing the church threshold, when the need to return to a path of faith began to stir in this woman's mind and heart. There must have been a process where, little by little, the barriers she had set for herself began to break. There must have been a long, perhaps bitter, internal dialogue that led her to reconsider everything: the past, the present, and the future—a dialogue that freed her and reconciled her with her deepest self.

We are a people who desire many things, and they are very valid: we want freedom, we want justice, horizons, progress, self-determination as a civil society… we want an end to the fear, the repression, the internal blockade that has plunged our country into deeper paralysis. We want to reclaim the societal ideals that have always accompanied us, even as a totalitarian and repressive system took root.

We want, but are we making a process that allows us to walk through the doors to that freedom, that justice, that prosperity eager to embrace us?

Making a process is daring to speak the truth everywhere, not just behind closed doors; it is respecting different opinions, which doesn't stop you from saying, 'I disagree,' but doesn't launch into vulgar and offensive attacks that deny others their right to express themselves.

Making a process is experiencing the decision of 'no,' recognizing your right not to engage in political support you don’t genuinely want to give. It is learning to stand in solidarity with those who are victims of injustice, abuse, repression, simply because not doing so is allowing evil to flow, perpetuating a social scheme we don’t want for ourselves or our children.

Making a process is training in forgiveness and dialogue. Making a process is striving to already exist in the Cuba we dream of today.

Saint Augustine said: 'The God who created you without you will not save you without you.' And paraphrasing the saint, I believe we can tell the majority of our people: 'The Cuban dictatorship, which was established without you, will not change without you.'