Havana: Father David Pantaleon, superior of the Jesuits in Cuba, has been expelled by the Cuban dictatorship, refusing to renew his residency permit.

“On the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 13, Father David Pantaleon, superior of the Jesuits in Cuba, left the island because his residency permit was not renewed,” a statement from the Jesuits of Latin America announced.

The communique noted that the priest, who is from the Dominican Republic, “is also the president of the Cuban Conference of Religious Men and Women (CONCUR).” Like the Jesuits, CONCUR has been outspoken in defending human rights.

According to the Spanish news agency EFE, the Cuban dictatorship decided not to renew the Jesuit priest’s residence permit for foreigners after demanding that he control the political and critical comments of the Jesuits on the island, something that Pantaleon would not agree to do.

According to Sister Ariagna Brito Rodriguez, of the order of the Sisters of Charity of Cardinal Sancha on the island, the priest was dismissed in “an emotional and nostalgic Eucharist, thanking God for the gift of the presence in Cuba of Father David Pantaleon”.

In a publication on her Facebook wall, which she accompanied with several photos of last Sunday’s religious liturgy, which Pantaleon attended, the nun stressed: “We regret that the Cuban government, using its powers of dictatorial power, without principles or values, forces you to leave the country: they fear the truth, they fear the face of good and getting rid of what bothers them is their only way proceeding of”.
“This shouldn’t happen. Those who must leave the country are those who use power to live as kings, at the expense of slave people, punished, flogged and forced to flee.

The EFE agency in Cuba, citing an unnamed source, stated that at the beginning of 2022, Havana had informed the priest that it would not renew his residence permit annual and valid for the calendar year.

According to the same source, subsequent attempts by the superior of the Jesuits to obtain the permit were unsuccessful, so Pantaleon left Cuba temporarily, to return shortly after with a three-month visa, which expired this September.

In November 2020, the priest expressed his support for a group of activists from the San Isidro Movement, who were on a hunger strike to free one of their members they considered to have been unjustly imprisoned and sentenced without a defense. The nun simply wanted to visit them to give them some spiritual consolation and hope but was barred by the authorities.

“All this pains us. We cannot close our eyes and look the other way. It’s not just about who’s right or wrong. It’s not about ideologies on the left or the right. It is about things as simple as the right to live, to express what one thinks, to discuss differences without ‘demonizing’ the opposite opinion, to respect the dignity of all,” the priest wrote on Facebook at the time.

In their statement, the Jesuits explain that Pantaleon, “in his five years of service on the island, accompanied many religious men and women, and the various initiatives of the conference, including accompanying prisoners and their families.”

“His departure fills us with sadness, but at the same time with gratitude for all the good received through him,” the Jesuits said.

“We pray for the other companions of the apostolic body of the Society of Jesus, men and women who in Cuba bear witness to the unconditional love of a God who wants to gather everyone together into a single people freed from all evil, lies, and injustice,” the statement concludes.

The archbishop of Havana, Cardinal Juan de la Caridad García Rodríguez, offered the farewell Mass on Sept. 11 for the Jesuit priest expelled by the dictatorship.