Between God and the Party: The Church in Revolutionary Cuba, 1969–1985

Abstract

While the role of organized religion in Latin America has become a fashionable research topic in recent years, comparatively little attention has been focussed on revolutionary Cuba. This paper seeks to address the development of the Cuban Church—“la mas reaccionaria de Latinoamerica”—over the past sixteen years, a period in which Church leadership has come to terms with the revolutionary process in Cuba. Following an examination of the context of the Church's role (1953–1969), an analysis of the Church's “emerging from the cocoon,” (through its 1969 pastoral letters), and acceptance of the revolutionary phenomenon, are presented.In particular reference is made to the dynamics of change seen within the Church (where the modernizing trend was not well received initially), and within the Partido Comunista de Cuba (many of whose members were suspicious of the “new” Church approach). The final section studies the major developments since 1980, and posits that Church-State relations have passed from ‘modus viv...