By Kevin G. Hall
McClatchy Newspapers
Published: Monday, Apr. 2, 2012
GUAIMARO, Cuba – After two papal visits, support is growing for the
Roman Catholic Church among long-suffering Cubans. Yet support from
the Communist Party that rules the island nation can be described as
reluctant at best.
Priests from the Cuban interior, far from the large cities of Havana
and Santiago, say it remains nearly impossible to operate with a
semblance of normalcy. They cannot approximate the kind of church
services or evangelical outreach that is common in the rest of Latin
America.
There is a strain on what elsewhere in the Americas is taken for
granted – whether it's being forced to celebrate Mass in someone's
crumbling home, or having government agents sit in on sermons to keep
a leash on what is said from the pulpit.
"This place is at zero as far as I'm concerned," said the Rev. Alberto
Reyes, a 44-year-old parish priest in the central Cuban town of
Guaimaro, 250 miles east of Havana.
While Pope Benedict XVI's three-day visit to Cuba last week
highlighted what is considered the improvement in church-state
relations in the years since Pope John Paul II made his trip to Cuba
in 1998, a visit to Cuba's rural parishes shows the limits of that
rapprochement.
The Cuban government still won't let the Catholics build churches.
Only the restoration of churches that predate the 1959 revolution is
permitted.
Churches in the interior are largely in the same crumbling state as
the rest of Cuba's buildings. In Reyes' church, the ceiling has been
repaired but many of the cross-shaped windows cut delicately into
brick years ago for ventilation no longer have storm covers. They're
now just open spaces through which water pours when it rains. Birds
and insects enter at will.
Reyes hopes Benedict's trip will allow for new churches to be built in
Cuba and that he can spread the church's message on a wider scale. But
he isn't holding his breath.
With Cuba's priest shortage, Reyes ministers to several towns in an
area with a population of about 47,000. There are one or two old
churches where he can hold services and where volunteers can do
charity work such as providing breakfasts for the aged.
But in most of the towns, Reyes celebrates Mass in someone's home.
Often, he says, it's the only place that also has a television and a
DVD player. Reyes sometimes shows up to find a large crowd of people
in the middle of a movie.
"If I try to give Mass it means they'll have to stop the movie.
They'll hate the priest," Reyes said. "If I had a small church, it
would put an end to that."
Benedict's recent visit, while raising the profile of the church
through huge outdoor services, did not conclude with any promises of
further liberalization.
Will that change after the death of Fidel Castro, 85, or his brother
Raúl, who will turn 81 in June?
"That's the million-dollar question," said Alfredo, 47, a Jehovah's
Witness in Havana who practiced his faith clandestinely for most of
his life.
Jehovah's Witnesses, known for going door-to-door to preach their
faith, have been allowed large temporary assemblies in Cuba, but like
the Catholics are prohibited from building new churches. They must
conduct services in makeshift fashion.
And while Alfredo is now more public about his beliefs, he is still
cautious. Concerned about retribution, he spoke on the condition that
his surname not be used.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/02/4383397/cubas-christians-struggle-even.html
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