[Episcopal News Service] The Diocese of Cuba on Feb. 28 elected the Rev. Angel Rivera, a priest from Puerto Rico, as its next bishop, marking a significant step toward self-determination as a diocese of The Episcopal Church.
Puerto Rico Bishop Rafael Morales Maldonado, left, speaks after the election of the Rev. Angel Rivera as Cuba’s next bishop. Photo: Diocese of Cuba
Rivera’s election on the first ballot was the first time the diocese has elected its own leader since Cuba’s return to The Episcopal Church was finalized in 2020, and he is poised to become the first Cuban bishop in more than four decades to be chosen by election rather than appointment.
Rivera is rector of Parroquia Ayudada San José in the Rio Piedras district of San Juan. He won the bishop election on the first ballot, with 12 of 22 votes in the clergy and 28 of 43 votes in the lay order. The other nominees were the Rev. Aurelio Bernabé de la Paz Cot and the Rev. Halbert Pons Santana, both from Cuba.
Puerto Rico Bishop Rafael Morales Maldonado has served Cuba as bishop provisional since June 2023 following the resignation of former Cuba Bishop Griselda Delgado del Carpio. She had served as bishop diocesan since 2010, including during the diocese’s reunification with The Episcopal Church.
Anglican presence on the island dates to 1871. The church became a missionary district of The Episcopal Church in 1901, but the two churches separated in the 1960s, after Fidel Castro seized power and diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States disintegrated.
For much of that time, Cuban bishops were appointed by a church body known as the Metropolitan Council of Cuba, which allowed the diocese to remain connected to the wider Anglican Communion.
The reunification of the church in Cuba with The Episcopal Church was finalized in 2020, after five years of efforts that included approval by the 79th General Convention in 2018. It is now part of the church’s Province II, which also includes the Diocese of Puerto Rico.
Rivera will be consecrated as bishop of Cuba after the diocese receives the necessary consents from a churchwide majority of bishops with jurisdiction and standing committees.