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The inhabitants of Cuba are mainly of Spanish and
African origins. The first influx of the Spanish
colons came from Castile and later from Galicia,
Catalonia, Andalusia and the Canary islands where as
the African came from the Congo, Bantu, Madingas,
Lucumi, Carabalis and Arara.
Catholicism is the predominant religion of the
island being the religion of Spanish empire. It has
been flourishing since with the arrival of
Christopher Columbus in the year 1492 and under the
American occupation too for it conveyed their
culture and ideology. All over the island there are
11 dioceses across Cuba.More than 50 percent of the
Cuban population is Catholic but the number of
Evangelical protestant followers are increasing
within the island and the most practiced Afro-Cuban
religion, Santeria, a blending of Catholicism and
African native traditional religion is practiced in
Cuba and has among its adepts nowadays Spanish
descendants.
The syncretism of the traditional religions to
Catholicism has contributed to the assimilation of
the African Cuban to the Spanish culture.
There is also a small Jewish and Muslim communities
living on the island. With the revolution, many Jews
fled the country. The Jewish community has a
synagogue in Havana their followers are from the
province of Santiago, Camaguey and other parts of
the island.
However, though free practice of religion is allowed
in the Cuban constitution, this freedom is
restricted by the state; no public worship is
allowed in Cuba. Two years after the collapse of the
Batista government in the 1959, religion was banned.
It was believed that it was the breeding ground for
rebels to counter the Castro revolution. After the
invasion of the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban government
espoused the socialist ideology and nationalized the
catholic schools. During 1962 to 1991, many Cuban
were denied of many opportunities in their education
and careers because of their faith. The sanction was
lifted in 1991 when finally the believers adhered to
the communist party and its ideology. In 1992, Cuba
was declared a secular state.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs is responsible of
the religions in all Cuba and the government is
neutral in his relationship with the churches within
the country. All recognized or official churches are
affiliated to the Cuban Council of Churches (CCC).
The Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Methodists form
part of the Cuban council of churches and are
officially recognized by the government where as the
Jewish community and the Jehovah Witness,
Evangelical and Lutheran churches are not. Those
religious bodies, not recognized officially by the
authorities face harassment, repression and
interference in their internal affairs. It should be
stressed that through the party adherence and the
student Cumulative School File (CSF) strict
monitoring is carried out by the Ministry of
Interior who keeps an eye and monitor religious
activities. Religious bodies are even infiltrated by
the secret Cuban police. Even the most important
organized religion, the Catholic Church operates
under several restrictions and pressure from the
governmental forces.
The Cuban regime is still not agreeing tot let
foreign priest to work in Cuban island, to train new
priests for the needs of the country and reinstall
the religious institutions like schools, hospital,
universities, nursing homes, access to internet and
media, and operate an independent press for its
church.
Pope John Paul II’s visit to Cuba was indeed a light
in the tunnel that soon vanished. The churches are
now asking themselves with the overlooking and
hindrance of the church activities if the Cuban
society will not be changing to an immoral one after
forty years of the revolution of 1959. |
