Thursday, November 19, 1998; 8:28 p.m. EST

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- The Roman Catholic Church in Cuba has won government permission to bring 19 priests and 21 other religious workers to the island, the first such authorization since the January visit of Pope John Paul II.

The church expects the arrival of ``a few dozen more'' religious workers to be arranged shortly, church spokesman Orlando Marquez said Thursday.

With the new priests -- five of whom fill existing positions -- Cuba will have just over 300 priests. The country had about twice as many in 1961, before the Castro government embraced communism and began discouraging religious worship.

Government-church relations have improved markedly in recent years. Even the Communist Party has dropped its ban on religious believers as members.

The Roman Catholic Church remains Cuba's largest religious organization by far, although Protestant leaders claim that weekly attendance at their churches roughly equals Catholic services.