The Church in Cuba and the work of Cardinal Ortega

By Jorge I. Domínguez

From the magazine Espacio Laical (Lay Space)

The Catholic Church in Cuba has experienced a remarkable transformation in the past half century. In the 1960s, the government fought it, deported more than 100 priests and threatened many others, pushing them and hundreds of thousands of Cuban Catholics into exile. By the 1970s, many in Cuba and abroad gave the Church up for dead, a fate that – to some of its critics – the Cuban Church deserved.

The Church revived, gradually at first, later with greater force. An important signal went up in the mid-1980s, i.e., the Cuban Ecclesial Reflection, followed by the National Ecclesial Encounter. The many discussions in many venues were an opportunity for Catholics in Cuba to gather, engage in dialogue, compare their experiences and hopes and opine collectively on the major issues of the Church and the Cuban nation.

The records of the National Encounter indicate, as was to be expected, a preoccupation with the life of the Church itself, its doctrine, the faith, the possibilities of practicing Christianity in Cuba in the face of multiple difficulties and the relationship between the Church in Cuba and the Church worldwide.

Also, in a respectful but clear and firm tone, the records of the National Encounter formulate pertinent criticism about the national environment, the Church and the State, the policies that bar the exercise of freedom, not just religious freedom, and the ills that are evident in Cuban society.

As is equally appropriate in a document of that kind, the records took note of events, celebrated whatever was praiseworthy and promoted positive changes that were evident in the nation’s life.

This new stage in the life of the Cuban Church was notable for three reasons that distinguished that Church from the Cuban Church before 1959.

First, in the 1980s, the Church in Cuba lacked properties beyond its temples and a few additional buildings, among them some homes for the elderly. The Church and the religious orders did not own any schools, universities, hospitals, clinics, shelters or cemeteries. Nor was the Church capable of influencing society or the State through its material wealth. The Church in Cuba was materially poor.

Second, the pre-revolutionary State was a lay state and its relations with the Church were sometimes difficult. In general, however, being a Catholic was socially useful. In the 1980s, on the contrary, to be a Catholic was a socially counterproductive situation that made access to the universities or promotion to responsible professional posts difficult. To be a Catholic implied costs in other dimensions of life. Many parents did not baptize their babies.

Therein lies the third big difference. Catholics in Cuba in the 1980s were Catholic because they wished to be so. People born to Catholic families had to opt for a life in the faith, despite all inconveniences. In the 1980s and the next quarter-century, many decided to become Catholic as they reached adulthood. The voluntary nature of belonging to the Church, despite the costs, is a key feature of the contemporary Church in Cuba that distinguishes it from its past and from the great majority of its sister churches in the rest of the continent.

It was, then, a Church that was astoundingly well prepared for a change that no one expected, that is, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the governments led by European communist parties. Life in Cuba became full of painful scarcities for all and painful adjustments for the huge majority of its citizens. Despite a shortage of priests, the Church saw a boom in the number of adults who voluntarily wished to be Catholic, to know the faith and participate in its sacraments, even though they lacked previous education in the faith.

Suddenly, the Church noticed that its cathedral in Havana was becoming an obligatory stop for many groups of tourists. Particularly in the 1990s, it experienced confrontations between the “traditional” Catholics and the newly arrived Catholics.

In 1993, the pastoral letter Love Hopes for Everything reprised the fundamental points of the documents from the National Ecclesial Encounter a few years earlier, from an era that seemed distant, and updated them for a Cuba that was economically devastated.

Criticism of the relationship between the Church and the State resurfaced in greater detail. Note was taken of the changes to the Constitution and the Statutes of the Communist Party that sought to eliminate (or at least reduce) discrimination against Catholics and once again, respectfully though clearly and firmly, the Church considered the thorny problems of political prisoners, exile, and the lack of a broad range of freedoms.

All that was followed by the demographic growth of this Church with a voluntary membership, the visit of two Popes, the gradual increase in the number of priests and nuns, the expansion of public spaces where the faith could be practiced, and the development of mechanisms of communication among personalities in the Church, the State and the Party to prevent unnecessary conflicts and settle those that were necessary.

Consistent with the Church’s social doctrine and its obligation, fulfilled for centuries, to communicate not only with the faithful but also with the rest of the world – even with its adversaries – Caritas developed at an amazing rate throughout the Cuban dioceses, thanks to the international cooperation that the Church sponsors and that only the Church can channel.

No less astounding is the development of the diocesan magazines, with diverse resources and purposes. Special note should be taken of Palabra Nueva (New Word) and Espacio Laical (Lay Space), which became forums for the discussion of the great issues of the Church and the nation. This function was vital, because neither of those issues are treated by the other communications media as they deserve.

That Church has revived thanks to the work of known and unknown individuals. It has revived even though many people – who should be its most enthusiastic friends on the northern bank of the Straits of Florida – have not supported it. It has revived even though the State and the Communist Party have so far not allowed the rise of a pluralistic civilian society that is independently organized, much less allowed political ideas that criticize and oppose the policies of the government and Party to be expressed with clarity and ease of diffusion.

That Church, which at present stands alone, is the heart of the hopes of a society that seeks a pluralistic and democratic opening. And it can be an interlocutor for a government and Party that are unaccustomed to a dialogue that is frank, free and open to all.

That Church has revived in great part thanks to the great work of my admired friend, the Archbishop of Havana, Cardinal Jaime Ortega. That is why I personally invited him to visit Harvard University and meet with professors and students. That is why, accompanied by the Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, he participated in an open discussion at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard’s main forum for the discussion of issues of general interest.

Cardinal Ortega presented his ideas about the Church in Cuba, the circumstances affecting the country and rooted his reflections in his Catholic faith. The forum served for a frank discussion (though always respectful) of some very diverse topics, including questions that were openly critical of the public role of the Church in Cuba and the Archbishop of Havana. The Cardinal responded in an equally frank and respectful manner.

In a free and democratic world, it is always good and healthy to express coincidences and divergences. That’s what happened in Harvard between Cardinal Ortega and the students. That’s what should happen in Cuba and wherever people live who consider themselves Cuban. Unlike those who shout, insult, misrepresent and abuse their position in the media, Cardinal Ortega participates in exchanges that include his critics and responds while taking everyone’s opinions very seriously.

The Church in Cuba has revived. The pastoral and social leadership of the Archbishop of Havana has been a key factor in that resurrection. He has opened the doors of prisons and the doors to a better future.

Let us focus on the notable advances that have been achieved. Let’s try to consolidate them. Let us express our coincidences and divergences when they occur but with the content and tone that every human being deserves. Much has been accomplished and more can be accomplished by persisting on a serene and positive, gradual and inclusive evangelical line, a line committed to peace and peaceful means that seeks a reform in the national State and a citizenry that is finally capable of truly exercising, after indispensable reforms that are still pending, the freedoms listed in the Constitution of our Republic, in a political system that should be truly democratic.

Jorge I. Domínguez is a Cuban-American educator and writer. Dr. Domínguez is presently the Vice Provost for International Affairs, the Antonio Madero Professor of Mexican and Latin American Politics and Economics, Chairman of the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, and Senior Advisor for International Studies to the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University.