Lessons from Poland for Cuba’s Catholic Church

Posted on Sunday, 03.25.12

CATHOLIC CHURCH

Lessons from Poland for Cuba's Catholic Church
BY JAIME SUCHLICKI
suchlicki@miami.edu

People in Poland have begun to fear the priests, and this is not a good
sign.

— Czeslaw Milosz, Polish poet awarded Nobel Prize in literature.

Throughout the Communist era, the Catholic Church in Poland was a
bastion of freedom and a source of protection from and opposition to the
communist authorities. Activists received protection from the Catholic
Church and refuge in churches across the nation. Throughout those years
the Catholic Church grew in strength and influence. It emerged from the
communist era not only as the highest moral authority but also as the
most powerful institution in the country.

Cuba is no Poland. The Catholic Church is weak. It competes with other
religions on the island. It does not have the popular support that the
church had in Poland. Cuba's Cardinal Jaime Ortega is no Cardinal Wyszynski.

Recently, the Cuban Church has tried to mediate with the government on
human rights issues — the release of political prisoners — and to obtain
more space for church affairs.

This policy of collaboration, after 50 years of Communist rule, has
limitations. First, it is too timid for most Cubans who want to end the
Castro era. Second, it lacks a clear and forceful rejection of communism
and its teachings. Third, it encourages the perception that the church
is more interested in its own survival than in the welfare of Cubans.
Fourth, it offends the memory of the many Catholics that died in the
firing squads of the Castro regime proclaiming "long live Christ."

Finally, it antagonizes a large majority of Cuban Catholics, those
living in exile in the United States.

The Catholic Church faces a moral as well as a practical dilemma. To
continue on the present course, it risks alienating the Catholics in
Cuba and in the United States. It will not increase its appeal to
Afro-Cubans, those suffering most and who represent the largest ethnic
majority on the island. The church may be swept away, or become
irrelevant, in the inevitable struggle that approaches between
government and the opposition.

To defy the system also carries risks for the Catholic Church: losing
its limited privileges; inviting the wrath of Cuba's efficient security
apparatus; returning to the dark early days of the revolution when there
were few priests and little influence.

The lesson of Poland, however, is clear.

A church that fought on the side of the people emerged as a strong and
respected institution. The price for the Cuban Church may be too high.
Yet, the abandoned Cubans, repressed by the Communist dictatorship for
over a half a century, will welcome the church's help. The time is now
to be on the right side of history.

Jaime Suchlicki is the Emilio Bacardi Moreau Distinguished Professor and
director, Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, University of
Miami. He is author of "Cuba: From Columbus to Castro," now in its fifth
edition.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/25/2710483/lessons-from-poland-for-cubas.html