Cuba cardinal behind dissident deal says jail Mass

Published November 17, 2014

A church official says the Havana cardinal who helped broker a deal with the Cuban government for the release of jailed dissidents has said Mass at a prison where some of them are still held.

Two of the 11 dissidents remaining behind bars are held at the Combinado del Este prison near Havana, where Cardinal Jaime Ortega said Mass Friday.

Havana archbishopric official Orlando Marquez says 20 prisoners attended the Christmas Eve mass, but it wasn't clear if the dissidents were among them. Marquez had no details about the sermon.

Under the informal deal, the government was to release all 52 dissidents by early November. They were jailed in a 2003 crackdown.

Ortega has said Mass at prisons in past years.

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