U.S. report says religious freedom in Cuba is bad but getting better

Posted on Monday, 07.28.14

U.S. report says religious freedom in Cuba is bad but getting better
BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
JTAMAYO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM

Cuban government restrictions on religion remain severe although they
have been eased on several fronts over the past year, according to the
U.S. State Department's annual report on freedom of religion around the
world.

"In China, Cuba, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, religious
activity was only lawful if explicitly authorized by the state," said
the executive summary of the country-by-country report, made public on
Monday.

The report confirmed a recent trend toward expanded freedom on the
practice of religion in Cuba — officially atheist from 1962 to 1992 —
alongside continued tight controls in those places where religion
intersects with politics.

"This report parallels what I have been hearing from Cuba — more freedom
but no politics … unless they agree with the government," said Marcos
Antonio Ramos, a retired Miami pastor and historian of religion.

Most of the religious groups on the island reported reduced government
interference in attracting new members, conducting services, importing
religious materials and receiving donations from overseas, the State
Department reported.

They also found it easier to conduct charitable, educational and
community service projects, it added, including health and nutrition
assistance to the elderly and after-school classes for children.

Government officials made it easier to bring in foreign religious
workers and restore houses of worship, and returned several church
properties confiscated in the 1960s, according to the report.

However, the Cuban Communist Party, through its Office of Religious
Affairs (ORA), "monitors and regulates almost every aspect of religious
life," the report said.

Government officials "harassed outspoken religious leaders, prevented
human rights activists from attending religious services, and in some
cases employed violence to prevent activists from engaging in public
political protests" after services, it added.

The government also routinely detained members of the dissident group
Ladies in White to prevent them from attending Catholic Mass on Sundays,
especially in the provinces of Matanzas, Holguin, Villa Clara, and
Santiago de Cuba, according to the report.

"Most religious leaders reported they exercised self-censorship in what
they preached" out of fear of government reprisals, it said. And some
groups said the government seized and distributed assistance sent to
them for victims of Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

A national TV program on Nov. 12 called evangelical churches "subversive
organizations" and "part of a grand plan by the U.S. government to
undermine the Cuban government," according to the report.

Some religious groups, including Jehovah's Witnesses and the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are not officially recognized, and
members are subject to "pervasive monitoring of their movements,
telephone calls, visitors, and religious meetings."

Most of the so-called "home churches" established because of a lack of
buildings have never been officially recognized but operate with little
or no interference from the government, the report said.

The Roman Catholic Church runs two seminaries and the island nation has
several interfaith centers for educating pastors, it said, but Cuba does
not allow religious grammar or high schools or universities.

The State Department said the Roman Catholic Church claims that 60
percent to 70 percent of all Cubans were baptized and estimated
membership in Protestant churches at 5 percent of the country's 11
million population, with Baptists and Pentecostals likely the largest.

Many Cubans also practice religions rooted in Africa but mixed with
elements of Catholicism, such as Santeria, making it difficult to
estimate membership, the State Department reported.

Source: U.S. report says religious freedom in Cuba is bad but getting
better - Cuba - MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/28/4259985/us-report-says-religious-freedom.html