Protestantism in Cuba - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Overview

While Protestants arrived in the island of Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

early in its colonial days, most of their churches did not flourish until the twentieth century with the assistance of American missionaries. In the early twentieth century, Cuban Protestant churches were greatly aided by various American missionaries who assisted in the work in the churches and also provided support from their home churches. When Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...

’s regime overtook the country in 1959, Protestant churches were legally allowed to continue. Nevertheless, certain incidents as detailed below, and religious persecution kept them from prospering. During the Special Period

Special Period

The Special Period in Time of Peace in Cuba was an extended period of economic crisis that began in 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and, by extension, the Comecon. The economic depression of the Special Period was at its most severe in the early-to-mid 1990s before slightly declining...

that began in 1991, Protestant churches began to flourish once again and today have become a primary religious group of Cuba

Cuba

Early Protestants in Cuba

Cuba

was one of Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

’s last colonies to be established in the New World

New World

The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...

. In the beginning, Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

Spain

zealously tried to keep the Protestants out of their colony as they promoted “monarchical absolutism

Absolutism

The term Absolutism may refer to:* Absolute idealism, an ontologically monistic philosophy attributed to G.W.F. Hegel. It is Hegel's account of how being is ultimately comprehensible as an all-inclusive whole...

” and “Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

unity.” The earliest Protestant activity in Cuba

Cuba

dates back to 1741 when Cuba

Cuba

was under British occupation. Moreover, as trade opened up between Cuba

Cuba

and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

as well as other Protestant nations in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, the walls keeping Protestants out of Cuba

Cuba

were broken down. Many Protestants began to make their home in Cuba

Cuba

. Several more Protestants influenced the culture and society by coming to trade or vacation on the island. Even with the opening of trade, tensions remained strong between Catholics and Protestants in Cuba

Cuba

throughout the early days of the colony.

Protestant churches in Cuba

Many of the Protestant churches in Cuba

Cuba

have ties to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

through various missionary activity. The Baptist Convention of Cuba is an influential Protestant group that was begun by a Cuban exile who was associated with the American Southern Baptist Convention

Southern Baptist Convention

The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...

. He returned in 1883 to spread Bibles in the west and south of Cuba

Cuba

. They help to make up the third largest denomination along with the North American Baptist Missionaries who work in the east. One of the main Protestant churches in Cuba

Cuba

today is the Iglesia Evangélica Pentecostal which originated in 1920 with help from American missionaries of the Assemblies of God

Assemblies of God

The Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...

Protestant churches during the Revolution

In 1959, Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro

stated that he did not have problems with the Protestants who were more tolerant than the Catholics of his social policies. Yet, this religious tolerance did not last long. Many Protestants suffered harassment at the hands of the Revolutionaries. Some were sent to labor camps where they were abused physically and verbally. Also many churches experienced harassment in the form of “The Street Plan” which was an organized activity outside of the church with the purpose of distracting from the services. Furthermore, in 1965, thirty Baptist

Baptist

Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

preachers were accused of being American spies and were imprisoned. In June 1984, Jesse Jackson

Jesse Jackson

Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to...

visited Cuba

Cuba

and influenced the release of 22 religious prisoners. Through these years, Protestant Churches had to be creative with their evangelism, disguising their outreaches as musical or cultural programs.

Protestant schools

In the early twentieth century, the American Protestants who came to Cuba

Cuba

began to spread their religious and economic ideas through a vast education system that included elementary and secondary schools, Sunday Schools, Bible camps, and seminaries. Besides their desire to evangelize the local Cubans, their goal was to shape Cuban society after the American values that they brought to the schools. In these schools, upper and middle class Cubans were prepared for leadership positions, while lower class citizens were educated to become workers in occupations such as secretaries and housekeepers. Before the Cuban Revolution

Cuban Revolution

The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...

, these Protestant schools succeeded in training thousands of students with their American ideals. Several Cuban graduates of this school system eventually became leaders in government posts at the time of the revolution.

Despite the political and economic uncertainty the Revolution brought to Cuba

Cuba

, the Cuban Protestant Schools remained stable for a time due to their outside support from U.S. mission agencies. However, as time went on, relationships between Cuba

Cuba

and the U.S.A. became increasingly unstable and Protestant schools and churches depended heavily on the U.S. churches for money, workers, and theological training. As a result of the growing U.S.-Cuban conflict, the Cuban Protestant’s association with the U.S. became a burden to these churches and schools and many of them were forced to close down. At this time, a primary reform of the Revolutionary government was free education for people of any race and age. So, at the same time these once thriving Protestant schools were closed down, education in Cuba was offered freely to the masses for the first time. In contrast to the education provided at the Protestant schools, the Revolutionary schools taught their students with an atheistic ideology.

Today

In 1985, Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro

met with Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

and Protestant leaders to express his views on religion. By September, he asked his political party to respect these religious groups and promised to help solve the material needs of these churches. In 1986, the government official in charge of religious affairs gave an interview saying that atheism

Atheism

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...

would no longer be the primary ideology of the government.

Soon after, Protestant churches began to thrive in Cuba

Cuba

once again, and their numbers doubled in the 1990s during the Special Period

Special Period

. This era of church growth has been called the “Great Awakening.” In 1998 it was reported that Protestants have successfully come to rival Roman Catholics for the number of followers in Cuba

Cuba

as 500,000 Catholics attend services weekly followed closely by 400,000 Protestants. In 1999, Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II

Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

visited Cuba

Cuba

which brought a significant amount of religious tolerance and awareness to the nation. Later that year, the Cuban government declared that Christmas could be celebrated as an official holiday. Today, some of Cuba’s Protestant churches are united by The Ecumenical Council of Cuba. With fourteen member churches, this group seeks to influence the culture of Cuba

Cuba

. Their mission is to promote church and society, Christian education, Ecumenical education, laity, Bible reading, and the youth of Cuba

Cuba

. The majority of Cuban protestants, however do not belong to the Ecumenical Council of Cuba. This includes the Eastern and Western Baptist Conventions and the Assemblies of God denomination which are the largest protestant denominations on the island.

Additional notes

The protestant population of Cuba is estimated at 11%.

Protestantism was introduced to Cuba by the British in 1741 and especially after their conquest of Western Cuba

British expedition against Cuba

The Battle of Havana was a military action from March to August 1762, as part of the Seven Years' War. British forces besieged and captured the city of Havana, which at the time was an important Spanish naval base in the Caribbean, and dealt a serious blow to the Spanish navy...

in 1762.

Since 1991 religious believers are permitted to be members of the Cuban Communist Party.

Christmas became a National Holiday in 1998.

There are rarely building licenses for churches.

In March 2007 some Baptist groups received official recognition.

List of denominations

Asambleas de Dios
Assemblies of God
The Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...
Asociación Evangelica de Cuba
Covención Bautista de Cuba Oriental
Ejército de Salvación
Hermanos Libres
Iglesia Adventista del Séptimo Día
Iglesia de Dios
Iglesia de Dios en Profecía
Iglesia de Dios en Cuba
Iglesia de los Amigos
Iglesia del Evangelio Cuadrangular
Iglesia del Nazareno
Iglesia Luterana de Cuba (Misurí)
Iglesia Metodista en Cuba
Iglesia Santa Pentecostés
Iglesias Elim

Source of the list: The World Christian Encyclopedia, Second edition, Volume 1, p. 228

Overview

Early Protestants in Cuba

Protestant churches in Cuba

Protestant churches during the Revolution

Protestant schools

Today

Additional notes

List of denominations

See also