Saying Mass in Havana
A look at the re-emergence of Catholicism in Cuba.
JUNE 4, 2012
Cuban Catholic faithful line a street in Havana on Sep. 8, 2001, as a procession passes celebrating the Virgin of Charity, Cuba's patron saint. Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega celebrated a Mass for the Virgin in which he denounced the poverty affecting a majority of Cubans, and warned of the social differences that divide the poor from those who receive economic help from relatives working overseas. (ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP/Getty Images)
For decades, Cuba hasn't been particularly friendly to Catholics -- when Fidel Castro seized power in 1959, he declared the island an atheist country, deporting an archbishop and priests and institutionalizing discrimination against practicing Catholics. Officially, religion was forbidden, although many Cubans privately practiced santeria, a syncretic faith that combines rituals and figures from both Catholicism and traditional African tribal religions.
But in the last 20 years, Catholicism has seen a resurgence in Cuba. Beginning in 1992, Cuba begin permitting people who openly professed a religion to participate in politics, and has even hosted the pope twice.
Above, a priestess named Carmen calms a young believer on Dec. 17 1992 -- the year Cuba dropped official atheism from its constitution -- in Jovellanos, Cuba. Carmen was said to be possessed by the African god Babalu Aye during the Touch of the Drum ceremony, an occasion that marks the end of celebrations for the Catholic Saint Lorenzo and for Babalu Aye, a Yoruba deity.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/06/04/saying_mass_in_havana#3
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Under an image of revolutionary icon Che Guevara, Cubans watch as Pope Benedict XVI conducts his mass at Havana's Revolution Square on the last day of his three-day visit on March 28, 2012, in Havana.
