Church relationship between archdiocese and Cuba is subject of lecture
By Mary Ann Wyand
A March 23 program at Marian University in Indianapolis will celebrate a decade of friendship between Catholics in the Archdiocese of Camaguey, Cuba, and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
Lynn Renner of Baltimore, a Hoosier native and the Catholic Relief Services country manager for Cuba since 2008, will discuss the CRS Global Solidarity Partnership between the two archdioceses during a 7 p.m. presentation at the university’s Mother Theresa Hackelmeier Memorial Library auditorium.
His lecture, titled “The Cuba-Indy Relationship: Building Church Solidarity,” is free and open to the public, though online registration is required (register here).
Renner, who also serves as the regional CRS representative for Caribbean countries, will describe the unique relationship between Catholics in the two archdioceses and share information about the future of Cuban-American relations.
“There’s a real spiritual relationship that the people have, not only in Indianapolis but also the people in Camaguey,” Renner said during a March 15 phone interview.
“There’s almost a natural inclination for them to relate to each other,” he said, “and I think that is very impressive. There’s an acceptance on both sides for their culture and for our culture, and a total understanding of the people involved. [Representatives from] Caritas Cuba in Camaguey visited [Catholics] once in Indianapolis.”
Several members of the archdiocesan Global Solidarity Partnership from Indianapolis will also talk informally about their personal experiences during visits to the Archdiocese of Camaguey, which have strengthened the Church’s partnership.
During 38 years with Catholic Relief Services, Renner has gained extensive experience in international relations.
A native of Princeton, Ind., in southern Indiana, Renner earned a bachelor’s degree in modern languages at Butler University in Indianapolis and a master’s degree in Latin American studies at Indiana University in Bloomington.
His work began as a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia then for CRS in Latin America, the Caribbean and at the regional level from the 1970s through the early 1990s.
“In 1992, I was sent to a Caritas conference in Uruguay,” Renner said. “I met a person from Caritas Cuba, and I think that might have been our first contact years ago. The Cuban Church was just beginning to start Caritas at the time.
“There has been an openness to the Church in Cuba since Pope John Paul II’s visit in 1998,” he said. “I think, as a result of that, the Global Solidarity Partnership was allowed to blossom there.”
Renner traveled to Camaguey with the Indianapolis group once since he began his CRS ministry in Cuba in 2008.
“It was enough [time] to know how affectionate they are toward, not only the Caritas people, but also the volunteers who work with Caritas, the people who are in their programs, the elderly, the children with disabilities and the other children,” he said. “There’s a very close affinity for them. They go out of their way to be affectionate, and it’s reciprocal. The people from Indianapolis were accepted by the [people in] communities that they visited [in Camaguey].” †