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Under a canopy of palm trees, the
Pray Area is an invitation to retreat from the outer world… At
crossroads, Cuba has come under the influence of many cultures
namely Europe, Africa, North America and the Amerindian. The
population made up of Roman Catholics, Protestants, Jehovah's
Witnesses, Jews, Muslims, Baptists and ‘Santerķa’ who have been
denied of their rights to religious practice under the socialist
rule is now awakening since it has become a secular state. But
still there is no open Pray Area in Cuba. Congregations of
different faiths can only hold their meetings in houses or
churches. The Pray area is the centre of life in Cuba where
young and old come every Sunday to celebrate the Eucharistie and
thanking Mother Nature after a week’s working on the sugar and
tobacco plantations. Long ago in Cuba, with the music and dance,
a cubanized form of Catholicism had been created by the
missionaries, the colonialist spaniards and the slaves. This
Cuban Catholicism blends Christian and West African beliefs,
values, traditions and norms thus enabling its followers to
accept their traditional beliefs while being Catholic.The Pray
Area amidst the lush vegetation reveals all the importance
nature bears to the Cuban culture. |
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