Cuba woos Catholic Church

Press, 20 February 1986, Page 6

Cuba woos Catholic Church

By

GEORGE GEDDA,

of

the Associated Press (through NZPA) Havana In a fresh signal of Cuba’s newly conciliatory attitude towards the Catholic Church, a draft of the Communist Party programme for the next five years encourages Cubans to respect the beliefs of churchgoers. The draft calls on Cubans to honour the moral integrity of believers and to avoid any practice that could wound religious sentiments. The 187-page document, which has not been made public, will receive final approval at a special party congress in December after local debate. No significant changes are expected. The draft was prepared by the party’s hierarchy for a-recent Communist concise, and copies have

been made available to some diplomatic missions in Havana. “Within the party’s policy of encouraging national unity, there is no room for discrimination against believers. Instead, they should be encouraged to participate voluntarily and consciously as citizens and patriots in the construction of socialism,” the draft says. The proposed policy is consistent with what appears to be a studied effort by the Government to improve relations with the long-suffering Catholic community, whose members until recently have considered themselves to be outside the Cuban mainstream. There are now an estimated 210 priests in Cuba compared with a pre-revolutionary total of more than 800. Church activities have -peen

severely limited. The more tolerant attitude was reflected in the publication in December of interviews the President, Dr Fidel Castro, held with a Leftist Brazilian churchman, Friar Betto. The 379-page book has been Cuba’s best-seller since. In a reference to Jesus, Dr Castro said, “I never saw a contradiction between the ideas that sustain me and the ideas of that symbol, of that extraordinary figure.” Dr Castro also held pre-cedent-setting meetings in September and November with delegations of Cuban bishops. In addition, the Government for the first time has established an office of religious affairs. The Archbishop of San Cristobal de la Habana (Havana), the Most Rev. Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, * who attended both meetings, said he

welcomed the more positive attitude of the Government on religious issues.

Archbishop Cespedes, aged 49, said he wanted Cuban Catholics to be treated as though they could be trusted and for children to receive a neutral education concerning spiritual matters. “In other words, don’t teach religion, but don’t combat it, either.” School-age Cubans from religious families were confused because, after attending Mass on Sunday, they were told on Monday that Christ did not exist. The Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba, Jaime Ortega, said he was moderately optimistic about the prospects for Church-State detente.

The draft party document also appears to give support to the so-called Liberation Theology in

Latin America, in which Catholicism and Marxism are viewed as mutually reinforcing. The study says the party will encourage the new traditions that have emerged that tend to strengthen relationships of socialist harmony.

In the same spirit, a party summary of social and economic developments over the last five years, read by Dr Castro to a recent party meeting, said social-activist Liberation Theology had emerged in Latin America with great force. “We see it not only as an honest commitment to the poors., . but as an expression of the desire of many Christians, consistent with their religious beliefs, to build a .world governed by brotherhood, equality,, and justice among, men,” the report said. f