Cuba's Roman Catholic Church urged the Communist government Friday to respect all human rights, decried the U.S. trade embargo and offered itself as a mediator and framework for change.

A six-page declaration by the Cuban bishops, to be read at all Masses today and Sunday, was the church's first major statement since Pope John Paul II's historic visit to Cuba in January.

Though thickly layered in religious jargon, the statement essentially appeared aimed at urging President Fidel Castro to begin embracing the moral changes that John Paul advocated in his five-day visit.

``The church offers its social doctrine as a framework for stimulating the economy and civil society, far different from the capitalist neoliberalism so in vogue, as well as any extreme collectivism already outdated, it said.

The bishops said they were pleased that John Paul's call for ``the world to open itself to Cuba had borne fruit and improved the island's international standing, even if the ``unjust U.S. embargo continues.

But the document also urged Castro's government to move more swiftly on the other side of the papal summons -- ``and let Cuba open itself to the world.

``All people on Earth, including the Cuban people, aspire . . . to the full respect of all human rights, which are substantially tied to each other, the declaration said.

John Paul does not want Cuba to embrace a world ``where the blind laws of the market automatically decide a people's future, it said. But Cuba must ``enter the mainstream of history and accept the risks this may entail.

To preserve Cuba's health and education system into the 21st Century, it said, the island must resolve an emigration flow caused by economic need and ``a lack of hope among many who see that difficulties persist.

In a thinly veiled jab at communism, the bishops said love of nations ``cannot be deepened through an insistence on patriotic dates, symbols and historical events.

Only ``a new climate of comprehension, participation and dialogue can turn Cuba into one big home, where each Cuban can feel that his just personal and family aspirations can be realized, it added.

The title of the document, The Holy Spirit Wants to Blow Through Cuba, referred to John Paul's parting comments to Cubans on a windy Jan. 25. The Holy Spirit is a symbol of hope and freedom in the Roman Catholic vocabulary.

Copyright © 1998 The Miami Herald