Cuba: Ladies in White seek Pope"s help

The news platform Cubanet reported on 22 June 2017 that the "Ladies in White" movement has sent a petition to Pope Francis in Rome asking that he request the Cuban government to respect their wish to attend Sunday church services. As reported by Diario de Cuba on 10 July 2017, one of the ladies was recently attacked and a number of others were detained. Rossana Ramirez, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, comments: "This group, made up of female relatives of political prisoners, have dedicated themselves to denouncing the abuses of the Cuban regime. This is why they are repeatedly harassed and prohibited from attending church services. Pope Francis visited Cuba in 2015 and 2016 and is seen as being in a good position to mediate and make it possible for this Catholic group to exercise their right to freedom of religion without suffering harassment."