HAVANA -- The Cuban Roman Catholic Church called on President Fidel Castro's government yesterday to allow more religious, political, and economic freedom and to begin a dialogue toward national reconciliation.
The message was given as Communist-run Cuba finds itself isolated abroad over a crackdown on government opponents and facing serious economic difficulties because of a shortage of foreign exchange to import food, fuel, and other products.
The Cuban Conference of Bishops expressed its concern over the government's "return to language and methods used during the first years of the revolution," asking it to release 75 dissidents sentenced to 19-year prison terms, on average, in April.
The human rights activists, independent journalists, and others were accused of working with the United States, which has long sought to topple Castro's one-party state.
The bishops also criticized the firing-squad execution of three Cubans who hijacked a Havana Bay ferry in April to try to reach Florida.
In a message to the faithful outlining the church's position on various issues, the bishops took aim at what they view as the government's backtracking on economic changes of the 1990s, in particular harassment of the country's small family businesses.
The number of small businesses has fallen to less than 150,000, compared with more than 200,000 in the 1990s, as increased taxes and other hindrances take their toll.
The document, titled "The Social Presence of the Church," recognizes Cubans are well protected in terms of their right to an education and health care, but states, "it is necessary to promote other rights," such as "the right to freedom of expression and social and political participation."
Cuba's Catholic Church was severely weakened after the left-wing revolution led by Jesuit-educated Castro in 1959. Church-state relations have remained tense.