Churches' Comeback in '90s Culminates in Papal
Visit
By Serge F. Kovaleski
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday,
January 18, 1998; Page A01
CATALINA, Cuba—For
most of his life, Jorge Perez outwardly embraced the notion of state-sponsored
atheism, paying lip service to the communist creed that religion is "the
opiate of the masses" and ostracizing those who held faith. But privately,
Perez found himself drawn to the Roman Catholic Church and believing that
devotion to God would enrich his life more than the piety he was expected to
display toward Marxist political ideology.
Today, the 37-year-old farmer openly practices his religion with little
apprehension. He and his family attend weekly prayer services in this
agricultural town 60 miles south of Havana and recently participated in one of
the first open-air Masses allowed by the Cuban government since the triumph of
the communist revolution here nearly four decades ago. The one Catholic church
in Catalina has seen membership grow in the past few years from 25 people to
150.
"As a child of the revolution I saw, and in some ways was responsible
for, what it meant to be Catholic. I mean the fear, the paranoia and the
consequences that people suffered through simply for believing in God, for
trying to find some solace from the problems we have to endure in this country,"
Perez said.
As Cuba prepares for a historic five-day visit by Pope John Paul II
beginning Wednesday, state intolerance of religious freedom is easing, rousing a
heightened interest in Catholicism and other denominations on this Caribbean
island of 11 million inhabitants.
In recent weeks, the church has been allowed to hold a number of open-air
Masses and public processions. For the first time in 30 years, the state
declared last Christmas a national holiday and ran a Christmas message from the
pope on the front page of the Communist Party newspaper Granma.
Cardinal Jaime Ortega was given a half hour on television last week to
address the nation.
And in a six-hour TV appearance Friday night, President Fidel Castro urged
Cubans to attend the pope's public events, including four Masses in Havana and
three other towns. Fleets of government buses will be used to transport Cubans
to the Masses, and a replica of the Virgin of Charity, Cuba's patron saint, is
being bused around the country to each Catholic church for worship ceremonies.
The pontiff's trip most certainly will bring a clarion call for the Cuban
state to grant a broader role to religion in society.
"We have a lot to teach the people, but we do not want privileges,"
said Orlando Marquez, director of the Catholic Church press office. "We
want our place in society recognized."
Castro hopes to benefit from the pontiff's presence by gaining renewed
legitimacy on the world stage for himself and the country's communist system
while conveying the message that Cuba is opening up to the world, which in the
long run could attract needed foreign investment.
More importantly, Cuban officials here said, Castro is hoping the pope will
criticize the long-standing U.S. economic embargo against Cuba.
In general, John Paul has spoken out against such sanctions, saying they are
a cruel form of punishment that afflict ordinary, innocent people the most.
The pope's visit and the new concessions it has brought from Castro
culminate a comeback by Cuba's churches that has been underway since the early
1990s. Throughout Cuba, the number of baptisms has increased significantly, as
has attendance at Sunday Masses, though overall church participation remains
lower than in other Latin American countries.
Last year, the government agreed to grant work visas to about 50 foreign
priests and nuns to replenish the nation's aging, depleted corps of clergy,
decimated at the end of the revolution in 1959 when hundreds of them were
expelled or opted to leave.
Religious organizations continue to be frustrated by a range of entrenched
restrictions, such as a ban on Catholic schools, where Castro himself was
educated, and circumscribed access to state-controlled media. Before the
revolution that brought Castro to power in 1959, the Catholic Church operated
270 social institutions in Cuba; today, it is allowed to run one psychiatric
hospital and six homes for senior citizens in Havana. Moreover, the number of
Catholic priests has plunged from about 870 in pre-revolution days to a current
total of 200.
To a large extent, what is being played out today between the Catholic
Church and the government is the result of changes begrudgingly undertaken in
the early 1990s, when Cuba's Communist Party opened its ranks to those with
religious convictions. Soon after, the constitution was revised to stipulate
that the nation was no longer an atheist state but a secular one that would
acknowledge religious choice.
Analysts and party officials said the shift in the government's official
position was driven by the realization that the state had to broaden its support
to survive the tumultuous aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet bloc.
That implosion took with it billions of dollars in financial aid that Cuba
had depended on from its communist allies; sparked an economic crisis; and
isolated this small, impoverished nation— one of world's last bastions of
Marxist-Leninist dogma.
A 1989 Academy of Science study, believed to be one of the most recent and
comprehensive surveys of religious behavior in Cuba, showed that an estimated 85
percent of the population held varying religious or supernatural beliefs, though
many were reluctant to express them openly. Experts estimate that 800,000 Cubans
go to church services regularly, at about 3,500 places of worship that include
cathedrals, several synagogues and many homes.
The Catholic Church is by far the predominant religious institution, and the
most powerful entity not under state jurisdiction. An estimated 40 percent of
the population is baptized Roman Catholic but only a minority is familiar with
the most rudimentary tenets of the faith, which experts say largely reflects the
dearth of clergy.
In recent months, the church has had to print fliers, campaign door to door
and hold extra Masses nationwide to explain who the pope is and what his role
entails.
But Santeria, an African religion brought by slaves and preserved over the
centuries, is the faith to which most Cubans -- including many Catholics—give
primary allegiance.
There are also sizable numbers of Protestants and Methodists as well as a
small Jewish community—each of whom, along with the Catholic Church, are
aggressively battling to attract new devotees.
"With more space slowly being created for religious denominations in
Cuba, we are all going head to head for those who now feel comfortable
expressing their faith publicly, as well as for those who might opt to become
converts," said one church official in Havana. "This situation has not
produced a very harmonious relationship between the various religions."
While the Catholic Church is clearly the biggest beneficiary of the pope's
visit, religious leaders and observers say, other denominations will also gain
to the extent that the pilgrimage will raise the profile of religion.
The pope also is expected to criticize Cuba's high divorce and abortion
rates and possibly its poor human rights record.
There has been talk that a meeting is being arranged between John Paul and
leaders of Miami's Cuban exile community, which is expected to have a sizable
showing here this week.
One of the most compelling aspects of the papal visit, however, is the fact
that two septuagenarian leaders, each a shrewd and charismatic revolutionary,
will meet face to face: one a globe-trotting, anti-communist religious leader;
the other one of the last high-profile stalwarts of Marxist-Leninist doctrine.
Both the Vatican and Castro, however, have reiterated that the visit will
not be political in nature.
While John Paul and Castro possess rival creeds, they share the view that
unregulated capitalism threatens human solidarity and justice.
During his television appearance Friday, Castro said of the pope, "He
has become the harshest critic of the social and economic problems that the
world is suffering today."
As to whether the visit will precipitate major political upheaval, Cuban
Council of Churches President Pablo Oden Marichal said, "Cuban society is
afraid of change because we know what happened in eastern Europe after the fall
of communism. People are afraid of the consequences of capitalism."
Reflecting on what the visit means for the future of religion in Cuba,
Sister Carmen Comella of Catalina's Catholic church said, "It is a
spiritual event, and that is what we are focusing on. We have been working very
hard before the visit, and we will continue to work very hard afterward."
PAPAL VISIT TO CUBA
Wednesday, Jan. 21
Pope arrives 4 p.m., gives speech at airport.
Thursday
Flies to Santa Clara, celebrates outdoor Mass at sports field; returns to
Havana, meets with Castro.
Friday
Says Mass in Camaguey town square; returns to Havana for meeting with
cultural leaders at University of Havana.
Saturday
Flies to Santiago de Cuba to say Mass in Antonio Maceo Square; returns to
Havana, visits Sanctuary of St. Lazarus and meets with sick Cubans.
Sunday
Says Mass in Revolution Square in Havana. Meets with members of the Cuban
bishops' conference; meets with priests, religious, seminarians and lay workers
in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and San Cristobal in Havana.
Departs for Rome, 7:30 p.m.
CUBA AT A GLANCE
Size: The largest island in the Caribbean, a little smaller than
Pennsylvania.
Population: 11 million, 74% urban, 22% under age 15, 9% over age 65.
Economy: Major sugar exporter; was heavily dependent on Soviet Union until
1989.
History: Columbus reached the island in 1492. Except for a short British
occupation, it remained Spanish until the 1898 Spanish-American War. The U.S.
occupied Cuba but withdrew its troops in 1902. The U.S. and other nations
acquired dominant economic interests until the communist revolution in 1959.
Selected events in relations between the Roman Catholic Church and Cuba's
communist regime:
1953: Bishop Enrique Perez Serantes of Santiago urges officials to spare
Fidel Castro from death penalty for attacking Moncada military barracks.
1959: Castro overthrows Fulgencio Batista dictatorship.
1960: Pastoral letter by Cuban bishops praises idea of social reforms but
warns against communism.
1961: All private and religious schools closed, except seminaries.
After U.S.-aided Bay of Pigs invasion by anti-Castro Cubans, militia occupy
some churches and briefly imprison leaders suspected of favoring invasion.
Castro announces that revolution is socialist; more than 100 priests are
expelled; 460 others leave within first three years of revolution.
1962: Constitution modified to make Cuba an atheist state.
1968: Conference of Latin American bishops endorses form of liberation
theology.
1969: Cuba's bishops denounce U.S. economic embargo.
1971: In meeting with religious figures in Chile, Castro describes
similarities between Christians and revolutionaries.
1984: Castro attends Methodist service in Havana with Rev. Jesse Jackson;
Catholic leaders attend.
1991: Communist Party drops ban on membership by Christians.
1992: Constitution amended to make Cuba secular rather than atheist.
1996: Castro meets with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, invites him to
visit Cuba.
1997: Christmas celebrated as official holiday for the first time in nearly
three decades, in honor of pope's forthcoming visit.
SOURCES: The World Almanac, Associated Press, U.S. Bishops' Conference
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