If Auxiliary Bishop Agustin A. Roman of Miami had his way, today he would still be a simple parish priest living, working and praying with his people in his homeland of Cuba. But history had another plan in store.

"I was expelled in 1961 with 131 other priests and one bishop," Bishop Roman told The Tidings last week while in Los Angeles to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Charity, the patroness of Cuba, Sept. 17 with local Cuban Americans.

"I never asked to go outside [the country], I was forced," he continued, describing Fidel Castro's communist regime. "You see, a priest needs to be with his people in every situation. If the people don't have food, then the priest must be like that, too. If they don't have medicine, we don't have medicine. We are with the people no matter the situation."

Bishop Roman paused, deep in memory.

"My only sin was that I was a priest, and because I continued with my sin, I was forced to leave with the others," he explains. "But I would not repent of my sin. That was who I was."

Indeed, the bond between the former parish priest and his Cuban people continues to be strong for Bishop Roman. Now officially retired, Bishop Roman has served the Archdiocese of Miami since 1979 --- the first Cuban in 200 years to be appointed bishop in the United States --- and was instrumental in establishing the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity which welcomes thousands daily and is a beacon of hope and peace for Cubans everywhere.

With Castro stepping down from power this summer while recovering from surgery, Bishop Roman --- along with the thousands of exiles who fled Cuba and now live in South Florida --- watch the potential history-in-the-making events in Cuba with careful prayer and hopeful hearts.

"We pray every day for a change; we are praying for peace that is based on truth, justice, love and freedom," he said, pointing out that the Cuban government has not changed leaders in nearly half a century. But is Castro's longevity --- and in effect communism itself --- closing a chapter, even with brother Raul taking control?

"We do have groups that reflect the need to change, and to make any changes without war or bloodshed," remarked the bishop, citing underground leaders Oswaldo Paya and Beatriz Roque as heading up dissident movements. "That gives us a beautiful hope."

But for Bishop Roman the situation in Cuba is more than just waiting for time to run out on communism. It's more a matter of how the Cuban people will open their hearts and be prepared for the next step.

"The question is not how to make the change, but how the people will deal with their freedom," he explained. After having been told for years how to live, work and eat, he said, the reliance on government is engrained in everyday existence. It will make any change of Cuban life all the more dramatic --- and not just on a political level.

To be sure, when Pope John Paul II visited the country in 1998, the spiritual life of Cubans was given a big boost. Today, however, despite prayer groups and rebuilt churches, most Cubans of faith find it hard to connect with others, said the bishop. The church has very limited access through radio, television and newspapers to communicate with its members. (One exception: the magazine Vitral of the Diocese of Pinar del Río, www.vitral.org.)

For his part, Bishop Roman works to help ease the suffering of the Cuban people, many who, living in America, are separated from family and friends. "That is such a big problem --- when the family is not together," said Bishop Roman who spends his days at the shrine talking with fellow countrymen and women, hearing their confessions and hearing stories of hardship. "It is the most painful when the family is separated, the father is here, or the mother is gone, or the brother and sister are separated."

For 13 years, his own sister waited with her two children for her husband to join them in America.

"They were waiting for him every day, every day. What kind of life is it when your husband or father is gone for 13 years?" asked Bishop Roman with a sad look on his face.

The force of Marxist thinking is based on, in the bishop's words, "fear, anger and hatred. But the church has the solution for that, and that is love. Love. Love each other, love God and love your country. Only good can come out of love that is pure and from the heart. Love is the answer that can heal us all."