Church spokesman: Cuban police remove dissidents from Roman Catholic church in Havana
HAVANA - A Roman Catholic Church spokesman says that Cuban police have removed 13 dissidents from a church they had been occupying for two days.
Havana archdiocese spokesman Orlando Marquez says the dissidents were removed from the Central Havana Church of Charity at the request of Cardinal Jaime Ortega.
A statement from Marquez said late Thursday that the protesters left without offering resistance.
The dissidents initially occupied the church to demand an audience with Pope Benedict XVI when he visits Cuba this month. They later changed their demand and said they wanted the pontiff to mediate a list of their grievances with the Cuban government.
