In the shorter version of Sunday's second reading we are counseled to "live in love, as Christ loved us." Just in time for hurricane season, a delegation of U.S. Roman Catholic bishops with charitable giving on its agenda is visiting Cuba this week. The bishops were following up on hurricane recovery projects funded by the church last year, and they also called for Cuba and the U.S. to improve ties.

Relations between the Cold War foes have thawed in recent months, with Cubans residing in the U.S. now more easily traveling and sending money to Cuba. However there are no signs yet that the U.S. trade embargo on the island in place since 1962 will be lifted.

"There's about 50 years of lack of confidence on both sides. That's a lot of history to overcome, but for the good of people who are separated, and suffering because of that separation, we would hope that both sides listen to their better angels," said Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando, Florida at a press conference in Havana on Tuesday.

"The important thing is not to lose the opportunity of increased closeness and understanding between our two governments. I believe that the church, here and there, should advocate for this," Wenski said in Spanish at the press conference.

Wenski is part of the delegation of bishops that includes Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley and Oscar Cantu, auxiliary bishop of San Antonio, Texas. O'Malley, who said he had visited Cuba several times over the past 20 years, pointed out there has been a "notable improvement" of ties between Havana and the church since Pope John Paul II's visit in January 1998. "Now we see that the church has more space. We would like for it to widen more," he said.

In April President Obama acknowledged that Washington's policies toward Cuba, including a decades-old embargo, had failed, but said that issues such as political prisoners, freedom of speech, and democracy in Cuba could not be brushed aside in any new approach toward the country.

Source: Articles by Jeff Franks for Reuters and Agence France Presse