Religion Grows in Cuba

HAVANA (AP) - The curly-haired young man in a white robe was schooled in Cuba's Marxist educational system and taught that the Roman Catholic Church was counter-revolutionary.

But when President Fidel Castro met Pope John Paul II last year and planned the pope's trip to Cuba, 22-year-old Daniel Bruzon began looking at the church in a different way.

Now he is getting ready to be baptized. On a recent Sunday, he wore the white robe of an altar attendant at Havana's Santa Rita Church.

Bruzon, a language student, is the product of a new wary tolerance by the government of the Catholic Church in advance of the pope's visit in January.

And he is among a growing number of young Cubans who are turning to religion in times of dire economic conditions and political confusion.

``I had heard bad things about the church all my life,'' Bruzon said. ``Then I saw where Fidel went to the Vatican and met with the pope. I wondered why. What was there about the church?''

Bruzon began going to church with friends seven months ago. ``I had a spiritual need that the church satisfied,'' he said. ``I found peace, understanding, and I found Christ, who loves me.''

Bruzon assisted Santa Rita priest, Felix Perez, in celebrating a Mass attended by nearly 200 people. A large group of young people led the congregation in songs to the beat of Cuban percussion instruments.

``My father is a military man,'' Bruzon said. ``When I told him I wanted to join the church, he was surprised, but he did not fight me. He respected my decision. Besides, he knows how stubborn I am.''

Most of the open repression against the Roman Catholic Church has disappeared. Its followers may freely exercise their faith and are no longer barred from membership in the Communist Party.

Bruzon and a friend, Milner Lajonchere, 18, were among the thousands of young Catholics who participated in a recent evangelization campaign distributing copies of the Gospel of St. Mark and talking to people about the church and the pope's trip to Cuba.

``The pope's visit will bring peace and hope. The Cuban people need love. We need reconciliation,'' Bruzon said.

In the church, there were prayers offered for the pope's visit and for reconciliation. The priest also urged everyone to attend the inauguration of an inter-parish soccer league, an activity that would have been impossible only a few years ago.

In an effort to reach Bruzon and his generation, the church has set its sights on education. To compete with the government for the sympathies of the Cuban people, it will need access to the news media and schools.

There are no Catholic schools in Cuba. There are few priests - 260 for a population of 11 million, compared with 700 in 1959 for half as many people - and the Catholic seminary has only 67 young men preparing for the priesthood.

Jorge Ramirez Calzadilla, one of the directors of the government's Center of Psychological and Sociological Research, attributed the resurgence of religion in part to the economic crisis brought on by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the U.S. embargo.

But Perez has another explanation. ``It is the search for God that is in every person's heart,'' the priest said. ``They are not afraid now.''

AP-NY-08-16-97 1144EDT

Copyright 1997 The Associated Press.