La Revolución Cubana y la Iglesia Católica: historia de un desencuentro

Abstract

From colonial times and during centuries of Spanish domination, the Catholic Church was very present in the social, economic, cultural and political life of Cuba, almost always alongside the power exercised by the government of the metropolis and by the landowners, both Spaniards as Creoles. The triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959 marked a clear turning point in the non-conflict-free relations between the Cuban revolutionary government and the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, since the latter lost privileges and influence. Despite the religious education of the brothers Fidel and Raul Castro, the strengthening of the socialist character of the revolution made the role that the Catholic religion played during the colonial period and also during the republican period after the country's independence unsustainable. Although the Cuban State is formally secular and non-denominational, the Cuban people have manifested their religiosity in various ways, either by following the Catholic precepts or by a religious syncretism with the Yoruba beliefs carried by African slaves. In recent times, there have been three papal visits to Cuba that have helped normalize relations between the island and the Vatican in some way. The future of these relationships remains a mystery.