By Frank Bajak, Associated Press
Both young Cuban women think their country is plagued by a
moral
crisis and a lost sense of community.
Are Liliana Acosta and Yailyn Avila outspoken dissidents? No,
just devout Roman Catholics among 10 young Cubans who helped Pope
John Paul II celebrate a Mass today in which the central theme is
youth.
Cuba's young people, depressed by economic hardship and limited
career opportunities, are spiritually rudderless and seek refuge in
alcohol and sex, the women said in an interview in the garden
courtyard of La Merced church.
After Thursday morning's rehearsal, the two were exuberant,
anticipating their once-in-a-lifetime meeting with John Paul.
Acosta was to present the Eucharist to John Paul, Avila a lector in
the Profession of Faith.
But the women's enthusiasm ebbed when talk turned to the state
of Cuba's youth.
"We Catholics have direction, but other young people don't know
where they're going. They have no hope,'' said Avila, 21, from
nearby Las Tunas.
Avila knows she may be hurting her career prospects by refusing
to join the work brigades, which perform tasks like harvesting
sugar. But the special education student refuses to conform.
"The way we're living now, it's not the right road,'' she said.
Acosta, a fifth-year medical student, shudders when she recalls
treating a woman who had undergone six abortions.
"The loss of values is incredible,'' she said.
The 22-year-old Camagueyan said her religion almost cost her a
medical career when a teacher tried to deny her a post-secondary
education nine years ago because she is a practicing Catholic.
Only 1 percent of the 300,000 people in her city, Cuba's
third-largest, regularly attend Catholic services. Parishioners say
soldiers would enter churches and beat people in 1961, a year
before the government imposed three decades of official atheism.
La Merced church itself, closed for 14 years, was only reopened
two years ago. The generation born after the 1959 socialist
revolution knows little about community service, which the church
promotes, young Catholics say.
"Young people today flee from sacrifice, from making a
contribution to society,'' said Yosbel Iaza, an 18-year-old
chemistry student from the western city of Pinar del Rio who will
participate in today's Mass.
He said most of his peers would flee to the United States if
given a chance, or find some way to get hold of U.S. dollars.
Routine power outages, years of short food rations and other
hardships create great anguish and discourage their generation from
starting families.
It is hard to tell whether young Catholics who speak out are
risking their futures or whether they are at the head of a
political thaw, evidenced by the pope's visit.
"We still have fear, though people have a little more
freedom,'' said Avila, who later wondered aloud: "Oh my God. Am I
now going to get kicked out of school?''
She and the others remain skeptical that freedom of expression
---
and the quality of life in general --- could soon improve.
"No one here is going to change. The people will greet the pope
applauding and say, `Great, what a success.' And then, the pope
will be gone and we'll all be the same,'' Avila said.