HAVANA, Cuba — For the first time since the Cuban revolution in 1959, a churchman has appeared on national television in a talk programme about the church, human rights and the Bible, according to an Associated Press source quoted in The Times of London. Cardinal Jaime Ortega was given half an hour on state-run communist television on Wednesday, January 14, in keeping with the Cuban Government’s promise to allow the Roman Catholic Church to publicise the Pope’s visit to Cuba later in January. The Cardinal spoke about the Pope’s role in opposing communism in Eastern Europe, touched on the politically sensitive issue of human rights, spoke about Christian liberty and gave a short Bible lesson. Cuba officially embraced atheism in 1962 but reversed this in 1992. The churches in Cuba still do not have complete freedom of operation, although permission to celebrate Christmas in 1997 was a step further towards acknowledging the growing Christian population on the island. The UBS is helping to supply 100,000 special editions of the ‘Good News’ Spanish Bible with deuterocanon to the Catholic population of more than four million in commemoration of the papal visit. (WR 329/13 - 3.98)