Pope's visit changed little in Cuba

Herald Staff Report

SANTA CLARA, Cuba -- Five months after Pope John Paul II's historic visit to Cuba, Roman Catholic clergy and lay leaders across the island acknowledge that the papal trip did not budge the communist regime. But they say they are not disheartened.

More Cubans are attending Mass, they say, and the faith of committed Catholics has deepened, giving the Cuban Church a major boost.

Even nonbelievers are turning to the Catholic Church as a refuge from the problems on the island, seeing the church as a sanctuary for free debate.

In concrete terms, though, church leaders say the pontiff's visit did little to affect the living conditions of ordinary citizens.

``An opening, with significant events, has not been observed,'' said the Rev. Jose Felix Perez Riera, executive secretary of the Cuban Bishops Conference.

``For the average person, everything has remained the same in terms of the structures of society.''

A release of prisoners

Following the papal trip, President Fidel Castro acceded to a Vatican appeal and released 300 of the 500 or so political prisoners that rights groups say are held in Cuban jails. But Castro ignored the Pope's exhortations to open the airwaves to religious programming, allow religious schooling, permit larger facilities for the church and tolerate greater political dissent.

The only slight concession offered by the government was to permit several parishes to hold religious processions in their immediate vicinity during Holy Week, Bishops Conference spokesman Orlando Marquez said.

Most Catholics and many nonbelievers reflect on the Pope's visit with fondness as a small respite from the tedium and anxiety of life in Cuba.

``They were unforgettable days. The atmosphere on the street was really different,'' said Laura Maria Fernandez, a lay Catholic leader in Santa Clara, one of four cities visited by the Pope.

``They were five days of freedom,'' echoed Ramon Humberto Colas, a Catholic who is also a political dissident in Las Tunas, a city in eastern Cuba. ``But they were just five days amid 40 years.''

A place of refuge

Cubans see church as a refuge more than ever, Colas said.

``Churches are filling up. People see in the Cuban Church a source of protection for whatever problem they may have,'' he added.

Perez, the Bishops Conference secretary, concurred that church attendance is up.

``It has increased in all the parishes. It's not a spectacular increase. But it is noticeable growth,'' he said.

On a recent Sunday, the Santa Clara de Asis Cathedral was filled to capacity during both morning Masses. Hanging from the pillars were placards with the bold phrases spoken by the Pope during his visit.

``Cuba must open to the world and the world must open to Cuba!'' one placard said. ``Don't be afraid! Side by side, open the doors to Christ,'' said another.

Nonbelievers at Mass

One parishioner said she was astonished at the nonbelievers who showed up at the Pope's Santa Clara Mass Jan. 22 -- perhaps out of curiosity -- and appeared to be moved.

``A lot of people had never heard the Word of God,'' Isabel Berrio said. ``They had no idea about Catholicism. It was like an awakening.''

She said she was not fazed by the glacial pace of change in Cuba.

``This is a process that takes time. Human beings can't change their mentality in five days,'' Berrio said.

It is mostly non-Catholics who voice frustration, and even resentment, at the failure of the papal trip to stir the rigid Marxist government to open up.

``The visit of the Pope for many people made no sense, and has resolved no problems at all,'' said Olga Capote, a lay worker at Havana's San Juan de Letran parish. ``Some people wanted change, without understanding that the church doesn't take sides.''

She noted, though, that on matters like church access to state radio, television, newspapers and magazines, the Castro government has been unwavering.

``Since the Pope left, we have not seen a single bishop on television,'' she said.

Still, many Cubans were intensely curious about what John Paul had to say. Fernandez, the lay worker in Santa Clara, said hundreds of people asked for printed copies of the papal homilies after John Paul's departure, and ordinary Cubans are returning to their Catholic roots.

``The number of baptisms has grown extraordinarily,'' she said. ``And when someone dies, they come to ask for a Mass for the deceased. This has been a great boost for the church.''