``We need to be very careful and everyone -- both the church and the state -- is interested in avoiding eventual provocations and confrontations,'' said Caridad Diego, head of the Cuban Communist Party's Office for Religious Affairs.
``There are people in the exile community -- including an auxiliary bishop -- who have said they wish to come to support the dissidents . . . and the counterrevolution,'' she said.
Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Wenski said Monday in Miami that Diego's statement was off the mark: He and Auxiliary Bishop Gilberto Fernandez plan to go on the ship, he said, but neither has made such a statement.
Also, Wenski said, both the Clinton administration and the Havana port authority have given permission for the cruise. He said he expects this matter will be resolved.
``What I will do is have our people talk to our counterparts in the church in Cuba,'' Wenski said. ``We will seek an immediate clarification. All indications were that we had green lights. What are they afraid of?''
In the case of the Masses being said in Havana as ``rehearsals'' for the papal visit, Diego said, the church and the state want to make sure that the ceremonies are not ``manipulated'' by people ``who aren't even believers.''
That's why the government banned a planned open-air Mass and subsequent procession Sunday in Bejucal, near Havana, Diego said. The ceremony was held inside the church, prompting Cardinal Jaime Ortega to complain about the stricture.
``The church's access to the media before and during the pope's stay is also under discussion, but -- as in all good marriages -- we're debating it in private,'' Diego said.
Herald staff writer April Witt contributed to this report.
Copyright © 1997 The Miami Herald