By ENInews
7 Jun 2011
Christian Aid
As Cuba moves toward a post-Fidel Castro society, its churches are
finding ways to "give a Christian witness with integrity" in a
state-controlled country that places restrictions on areas of life such
as free expression, said the General Secretary of the World Council of
Churches (WCC) after a visit to the Caribbean island - writes Solange De
Santis.
Relations between religious groups and a government that was officially
atheist at its revolutionary beginning in 1959 have warmed somewhat,
said the Rev Olav Fyske Tveit in an interview with ENInews at WCC
headquarters in Geneva. Tveit and a WCC delegation visited Cuba from at
the end of May, celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Cuban Council of
Churches, visiting an ecumenical seminary and meeting with Roman
Catholic Cardinal Jaime Ortega.
Cuban president Raul Castro, who is 79, attended the worship service at
the Episcopal cathedral which closed the anniversary celebration, Tveit
said. "Raul said, 'We need your blessings more than ever.' It shows how
far they have gone in recognising the importance of the churches in
society." Raul's brother Fidel, aged 84, ruled Cuba from 1959 until his
retirement in 2008.
About 70 per cent of the population of 11.4 million is Roman Catholic,
according to the Catholic Church, with six per cent Protestant. Cuba
also has evangelical, Pentecostal and Orthodox churches and many
followers of beliefs with African roots, such as Santeria.
While churches are in the delicate position of bearing witness within
Cuban society, the WCC has advocated on behalf of relatives of the
so-called Cuban Five, who are serving long prison sentences in the
United States on spying charges. The WCC, during the Cuban visit, again
called on the US government to grant non-immigrant visas on a
humanitarian basis for wives who have been unable to visit their
husbands since their imprisonment in 1998.
Church groups in the United States and Canada are "strong advocates of
liberalisation of US policy" on family visits, travel and lifting the US
embargo on trade with Cuba, Tveit noted.
Since health care and secular education are state-controlled, ordinary
Cubans encounter churches "in their worship life and communal life
related to that," said Tveit. The seminary provides theological
education, and churches also provide some Christian instruction and
social services.
"I saw very clearly the connection between the church in Cuba and the
global ecumenical movement. What is significant for them is support and
the sense of a wide fellowship at times of restricted communication with
the outside world. Also, the gifts they have been sharing, out of being
church in this special situation, have given a lot to the ecumenical
movement," Tveit said.
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