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Castro's 'secular Cuba' returns to religious roots

By Richard Shumate
CNN Interactive writer

(CNN) -- For nearly five centuries Cuba, like most of the rest of Latin America, was predominately Roman Catholic, a religion brought by the country's Spanish forebears.

Though the church was never as thoroughly ingrained in the culture as in, say, Pope John Paul II's native Poland, it provided the schools where many Cubans were educated, and its hierarchy and priests held a degree of influence in Cuban affairs.

But all that began to change in 1959 when Fidel Castro took over. Though he was educated by Jesuits, married in the church and even had his first child baptized, Cuba's new leader declared himself an atheist -- and turned the power of the state against the power of the church.

The Catholic Church was never banned outright. Instead, members of the church were not allowed to become members of the Communist Party. And in Cuba, where the party controlled jobs, housing and most other functions and fruits of life, party membership was paramount.

A number of churches and church schools were closed. Priests from other countries, who made up much of the Cuban clergy, were forced to leave. Church membership plummeted. Though church studies show that about 40 percent of Cubans are baptized Catholics, the number of children being baptized dropped to an estimated one in 1,000.

Building new bridges

But after the crumbling of the Soviet Bloc left Cuba isolated, and as Cuba sought to build new bridges to the rest of the world, the relationship between church and state began to change.

V X T R E M E   V I D E O: Santeria: Cuba's "other" religion VXtreme streaming video of IMPACT report

In 1991, the ban on party membership by Catholics was lifted. In 1992, Cuba went from an officially atheist country to an officially secular one.

Though the number of Catholics remains small -- and the church faces competition from Protestant sects and native Afro-Caribbean religions -- the church is growing.

Many parishes in the country have seen attendance double or triple in recent years. The number of men studying to be priests has gone up 30 percent in five years, to 90. The number of baptisms and weddings are similarly on the rise.

Still, after nearly 40 years of government-imposed secularization, many Cubans remain ignorant of basic Christian teachings and Catholic rituals, such as performing the sign of the cross over their chests.

So when Pope John Paul II says Mass during his Cuban sojourn, the liturgy and pageantry may be unfamiliar to many in the audience, despite a nearly five-century history of Catholicism in Cuba.

Follow the Pope's visit day-by-day:   Day 2  |  Day 3  |  Day 4

Icons at the Crossroads  |  Cuba and Catholicism  |  An Exile Returns
Testing the Embargo  |  Live Webcasts  |  The Struggling Revolution  |  Related links

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