Cuba OKs organized religious services in prisons
By ANDREA RODRIGUEZ
Associated Press Writer
HAVANA -- Cuba will allow inmates to attend Roman Catholic Mass and
Protestant services inside prisons, a top religious leader said Tuesday,
in a significant easing of the communist government's policy toward
organized religion.
Authorities from the religious affairs wing of the Cuban Communist Party
agreed to authorize organized worship behind bars after a meeting with
prison officials and the Protestant Cuban Church Council last week, said
Jose Aurelio Paz, a council spokesman who attended the gathering.
Paz said Cuban prisoners could previously worship "on a personal level."
When inmates sought guidance from a Catholic or Protestant leader, they
were allowed to meet with one individually.
"Now they are going to not only be able to meet, but also use hymn
books, Bibles and crosses as part of ceremonies," Paz said by telephone.
The policy change follows a 2007 request by representatives from the
Latin American council of Catholic bishops for the right to celebrate
Mass in Cuba's prisons.
The decision only applies to prisoners of Catholic or Protestant faiths,
but communist officials said they were considering extending the relaxed
rules to Jewish inmates and those belonging to other religions,
including the Afro-Cuban religion Santeria, according to Paz.
Council of Churches President Miguel Hernandez confirmed the
government's decision, but declined to comment further. The Communist
Party also did not comment.
Relations between the church and Cuba's government have often been
strained. The single-party state never outlawed religion but openly
harassed and even expelled priests and closed religious schools after
Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution.
Tensions eased in the early 1990s when the government removed references
to atheism in the constitution. They warmed more with a historic visit
to the island by Pope John Paul II.
About 600,000 Cubans are believed to belong to Protestant churches and
the council has 47 official churches and other places of worship. The
government does not release figures on the number or prisoners in Cuba.
Cuba OKs organized religious services in prisons - World AP -
MiamiHerald.com (15 September 2009)
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/AP/story/1235432.html
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