New Cuban Government Department Attends to Religious and Fraternal Institutions

Havana, March 16 (ACN) The Cuban Council of Ministers approved the setting up of the Department for the Attention to Religious Institutions and Fraternal Associations.

According to the official website of the Cuban Communist Party, the new department will lead and implement administrative tasks related to the aforementioned institutions. The information adds that the existing Central Committee Office for the Attention to Religious Affairs will keep operative in the implementation of the Revolution’s policy regarding religion and believers.

Master in Sciences Eloisa Valdes Perez, who has a long record as Communist Party leader, will head the new department. Valdes has been an official with the Central Committee Office for the Attention to Religious Affairs for years.

The new move is in tune with the ideas, concepts and guidelines of the 8th Congress of the Cuban Communist Party regarding the improvement of management methods of the organization and the policy related to religious and fraternal affairs.

Decisions in this field have aimed at keeping the unity of the people and favoring full participation in Cuban society by believers and the institutions representing them, the information explains.

The Cuban Constitution declares that Cuba is a lay state which recognizes, respects and guarantees the freedom of religion, and that religious institutions and fraternal associations are separate from the state, while all of them have the same rights and duties.