A Catholic charity has stepped in to repair dozens of vehicles in central Cuba, helping clergy and volunteers continue reaching isolated communities.

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) funded urgent maintenance on more than 40 cars and vans in the Diocese of Santa Clara, where priests and sisters depend on vehicles to visit rural congregations each day.

Bishop Marcelo Arturo González Amador explained: "As far as the vehicles are concerned, they are indispensable for the pastoral care of the faithful in their various communities. The cars are very worn out and, with no alternatives for replacement, they require constant visits to garages and mechanics."

The diocese, which covers the provinces of Villa Clara and Sancti Spiritus, serves more than half a million Catholics.

Many of its vehicles date back to the 1990s, leaving clergy to resort to hitchhiking, buses or bicycles when repairs are not possible.

Thanks to ACN’s support, vital repairs to brakes, steering and electrical systems have been carried out.

Bishop Amador said the help enables their "vital work of spreading hope and offering support to those in need".

Nathalie Raffray from ACN told Premier: "If the cars were left unrepaired, the communities would be left with little to no pastoral care, no Masses, no baptisms, Eucharist or pastoral support."

She added: "The clergy out there have to travel such long distances, sometimes as far as 60–70 miles to a local parish. Sometimes these priests and nuns are forced to hitchhike, which is not ideal."