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 Cuba |  Holy See |
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Cuba–Holy See relations are foreign relations between theHoly See and theRepublic of Cuba. Three Popes have visited Cuba:John Paul II,[1]Benedict XVI,[2] andFrancis.[3]
Following the 1959Cuban Revolution,Prime MinisterFidel Castro embracedMarxism-Leninism and greater ties with theSoviet Union. In the communist tradition, Castro imposedstate atheism, restricting the role that religion could play in the country. However, religious suppression never reached the same levels that it did in many other communist states, and the Holy See never broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba.[4]
The Catholic clergy, in Rome, theUnited States, and Cuba itself, have generally taken a policy of opposing theAmerican embargo on Cuba, citing humanitarian reasons.[4]
In December 1989,CardinalRoger Etchegaray, then president of thePontifical Council for Justice and Peace (a formerdicastery of theRoman Curia) visited Cuba to dialogue with Castro about church-state relations. Castro said he would welcome the Pope if he visited Cuba, and dialogue with local and Vatican bishops continued. In July 1994 CardinalBernardin Gantin, president of thePontifical Commission for the Central America, met with Castro in Havana. Subsequently, Cardinal Gantin told Pope John Paul II of the improvements of religious freedom in Cuba, and two years later John Paul received Castro in Rome.[4]
In 1998, John Paul became the first Pope to set foot in Cuba. In the tradition ofCatholic social teaching, he criticized both the authoritarian socialism of Cuba and the currents of neoliberal capitalism spreading around many other parts of the world.[4]
In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI visited Cuba, meeting with Castro's brother,Raul, who had by then becomepresident.[4] He also implied criticism of the Marxist model.[5]
In 2015, Pope Francis became the third Pope to visit Cuba, acting as a mediator between Cuba and the United States, eventually leading to theCuban thaw under US presidentsObama andTrump. Cuban authorities released prisoners as a show of goodwill, but dissident groups claim that many of the nation's political prisoners remained incarcerated despite that. The illegal, underground opposition say that the papacy's gentle criticisms of repression on the island have not and will not effect real political change in the country.[5]
When Pope Francis visited Cuba, he reiterated the Catholic Church's stance on freedom of religion, urging the government to allow Cubans the "freedom, the means and the space" to exercise their faith, and he quoted Cuban national heroJosé Martí's stance against "dynasties", possibly a reference to the Castro brothers' hold on power (though a Vatican spokesman said the pontiff's words were not in reference to current events.[6] Francis also called for "justice, peace, liberty and reconciliation" for the Cuban nation and people, a reference to his calls for greater human dignity and to the human rights situation in the country.[7]
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