Religion in Cuba
Encyclopedia
Cuba
is traditionally a Catholic
country. In some instances Catholicism is much modified and influenced through syncretism
. A common syncretic belief is Santería
, which was brought to Cuba by the slaves from Africa and spread to neighboring islands; it shows similarities to Brazil
ian Umbanda
and has been receiving a degree of official support.
The Roman Catholic Church
estimates that 60 percent of the population is Catholic.
Membership in Protestant churches is estimated to be 5 percent and includes Baptists, Pentecostals, Jehovah's Witnesses
, Seventh-day Adventists, Presbyterians, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Methodists, Religious Society of Friends
(Quakers), and Lutherans. Other groups include the Greek Orthodox Church
, the Russian Orthodox Church
, Muslims, Jews
, Buddhists, Baha'is, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).
Cuba is home to a variety of syncretic religions of largely African cultural origin. According to a US State Department report, some sources estimate that as much as 80 percent of the population consults with practitioners of religions with West African roots, such as Santeria or Yoruba. Santería developed out of the traditions of the Yoruba
, one of the African peoples who were imported to Cuba during the 16th through 19th centuries to work on the sugar plantations. Santería blends elements of Christianity
and West African beliefs and as such made it possible for the slaves to retain their traditional beliefs while appearing to practice Catholicism. La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre (Our Lady Of Charity) is the Catholic patroness of Cuba, and is greatly revered by the Cuban people and seen as a symbol of Cuba. In Santería, she has been syncretized with the goddess Ochún. The important religious festival "La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre" is celebrated by Cubans annually on 8 September. Other religions practised are Palo Monte, and Abakuá
, which have large parts of their liturgy in African languages.
of 1959, Cuba restricted religious practice, this led to persecution of many Catholics at universities and jobs.
On paper, the government "recognizes" the right of citizens to profess and practice any religious belief within the framework of respect for the law; however, in law and in practice, the Government places restrictions on freedom of religion.
From 1959 to 1961 eighty percent of the professional Catholic priests and Protestant ministers left Cuba for the United States. Relationships between the new government and congregations were tense, the new Cuban government was very limiting and suspicious of church operations, blaming them for collaboration with the CIA during the Bay of Pigs invasion
and stockpiling arms provided for a "counter-revolution".
In accordance with the traditional antireligious doctrine of marxist-leninist ideology, the state adopted a policy of promoting atheism
. Religious beliefs were considered backward, reactionary, ignorant, and superstitious.
The 'Committees for Defense of the Revolution' said
Religious believers suffered from discrimination at schools and at work .
The decade following the 1960s was turbulent, and many believers chose to hide their faith in response to the state persecution. Many parents did not wish to burden their children with the difficulties that they would inherit if they were baptized Christians, and therefore did not raise them as such. The archdiocese of Havana in 1971 reported only 7000 baptisms . In 1989 this figure had increased to 27,609 and in 1991 to 33,569 .
In 1985 the Council of State in Havana published a best-selling book called Fidel y la Religion, which was the condensed transcription of 23 hours of interviews between Fidel Castro and a Brazilian liberation theology
friar named Frei Betto, O.P. He claimed responsibility for excluding non-atheists from Communist party membership on grounds that:
In the years following and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the state adopted a more conciliatory position towards religion and lessened its promotion of atheism. In November 1991, the Communist party began to allow believers into its ranks. In July 1992, the constitution was amended to remove the definition of Cuba as being a state based on Marxism-Leninism, and article 42 was added, which prohibited discrimination on the basis of religious belief . Small worship centres were legally permitted to exist again.
Nevertheless, by the early 1990s, after three decades of state atheism, Cuban society had become almost totally secularized. Weekly church attendance on the island of 11 million was estimated at around 250,000 or about 2% of the population (with an even division between Catholics and protestants) . Cuba had fewer priests per inhabitant than any other Latin American country.
Since 1992, restrictions have been eased and direct challenges by state institutions to the right to believe eased somewhat, though the church still faces restrictions of written and electronic communication, and can only accept donations from state-approved funding sources. The Roman Catholic Church is made up of the Cuban Catholic Bishops' Conference (ccbc), led by Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, Cardinal Archbishop of Havana
. It has eleven dioceses, 56 orders of nuns and 24 orders of priests.
The Cuban Bishops' conference has been very critical of the US embargo against Cuba and has claimed that the entire population has suffered from it. The US catholic bishops' conference has been influenced by this and has argued that food and medicine should be excluded from the embargo .
In January 1998, Pope John Paul II
paid a historic visit to the island, invited by the Cuban government and Catholic Church. He criticized the US embargo during his visit.
On October 20, 2008, the first Orthodox Church
in Cuba opened during an official ceremony attended by Raul Castro.
The disposition of colonialism brought a significant strain on all religions outside of Catholicism. Over the course of a 90-year span the Lucumi maintained the practice of the religion of Santeria. The religion of Santeria encompasses sacrificial food, song, dance, costumes, spiritual deities and the use of artifacts. In the beginning the Lucumi and other worshippers of Santeria would have to practice in secret. They would create hasty areas in which they would conduct structuralized practice of Santeria and return to their colonial life after. However, the practice of Santeria on a more regular basis takes place not on the sugar plantations but in the urban areas. The syncretism that modernized Santeria was introduced when high-class Mulattoes needed to find ways to alleviate ailments such as stress or sickness. There was no formal medical aid available to the community at the time. In light of this disposition high-class Mulattoes pulled from whatever resources that they could find. They employed the practices of Christian taught house slaves with Afro-Cuban healers and Spanish curanderos.The Afro-Cuban healers and Spanish curandero
s served as the only medical practitioners in Cuba and were responsible for treating both the Black and White population. The distance between the city and the countryside made it very difficult for the opportunity of slaves to participate in the syncretism of Santeria with Catholicism and Christianity. This was due to geographic reference. Most of the European religious practice and churches were located the urban areas or towns and to attend services would require traveling over long distances, which would interfere with the sugar production. In the urban areas slaves worked alongside freemen and White Cubans in a less restricted atmosphere. They were educated and trusted to perform skilled labor and given a great deal of responsibility. Their presence served in a number of diverse jobs, which acted as a catalyst for the syncretism of Santeria with Catholicism and Christianity. Not every slave in Cuba complied with the employment of slavery. Cimmarones, as the Cuban slave owners labeled them, were a group of slaves who fled captivity and formed communities consisting of thousands of people. They took refuge in the wilderness and the mountains of Cuba where they maintained the practice of Santeria. They were considered a very serious threat to the colonial government's hold on slavery and oppression. The Cimarrones were able to elude capture and to provide aid and shelter to other escaped slaves. Over the course of time they developed the means to communicate with other surrounding secret camps via the plantation slaves and friendly White Cubans. Other slaves and freemen who lived in rural areas formed secret societies and groups in which they would exercise their religious beliefs of Santeria out of the public view to avoid colonial reform and oppression. After the abolishment of slavery Palenque, the Cimarrones establishment was converted into a town named El Cobre after surviving for fifty years. In the religion of Santeria the emphasis of conscious existence binds the understanding of nature, the higher powers, and the channels of lineage together through ritual practice and clairvoyance. The circle is a symbol that is divided into three sections that begin at the core with people and extend out into two other sections being ancestors and finally divinities. The significance of people at the inner core stand to represent the present day of existence and understanding in the form of perception with in the individual as he or she can interpret the information surrounding them. The outer layer of the ancestor represents the heritable understanding that the individual carries with them as a source of how and why to interpret values of perception with in a given realm. The outmost layer represents divinity is the value of knowledge, direction and understanding that is acquired from Orishas and personal experience. The existence the circle represents is not a fixed plain of understanding but stands as an interchangeable ever evolving and rotating sense of awareness and being. Santeria lineage is structured in the connection through Sibs (a group of kin) with each Sib being traced back to a common male ancestor linking the bloodlines to the religion. “There were three different routes for the transmission of Orisha worship. A child could inherit an Orisha from either its mother or father and continue their worship of it. In this case a triangular relationship existed between the child, the parent, and the Orisha”.
in Cuba
(about 0.9 % of the population), in 1250 congregation
s. Over 200,000 attended the observance of the Memorial of Christ's death
in that year.
From 1938 to 1947, the number of Jehovah's Witnesses in Cuba increased from about 100 to 4,000. After World War II
, membership in Cuba increased to 20,000, and by 1989 there were approximately 30,000 members. The movement was banned in Cuba in 1974, and members have been imprisoned for their refusal of military service
. During the Mariel boatlift
in 1980, about 3000 Witnesses left Cuba. They were forced out because "they continued to worship God in their own way." In 1994, the Cuban government released representatives of the Watch Tower Society
, and members were permitted to meet in groups of up to 150 at Kingdom Hall
s and other places for worship. A branch office of Jehovah's Witnesses, with a printery, was opened in Havana in the same year. In 1998, Witnesses were permitted to meet at larger conventions in major cities in 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...
is traditionally a 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"...
country. In some instances Catholicism is much modified and influenced through syncretism
Syncretism
Syncretism is the combining of different beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term means "combining", but see below for the origin of the word...
. A common syncretic belief is Santería
Santería
Santería is a syncretic religion of West African and Caribbean origin influenced by Roman Catholic Christianity, also known as Regla de Ocha, La Regla Lucumi, or Lukumi. Its liturgical language, a dialect of Yoruba, is also known as Lucumi....
, which was brought to Cuba by the slaves from Africa and spread to neighboring islands; it shows similarities to Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian Umbanda
Umbanda
Umbanda is an Afro-Brazilian religion that blends African religions with Catholicism, Spiritism and Kardecism, and considerable indigenous lore....
and has been receiving a degree of official support.
The Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
estimates that 60 percent of the population is Catholic.
Membership in Protestant churches is estimated to be 5 percent and includes Baptists, Pentecostals, Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
, Seventh-day Adventists, Presbyterians, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Methodists, Religious Society of Friends
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
(Quakers), and Lutherans. Other groups include the Greek Orthodox Church
Greek Orthodox Church
The Greek Orthodox Church is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity sharing a common cultural tradition whose liturgy is also traditionally conducted in Koine Greek, the original language of the New Testament...
, the Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
, Muslims, Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, Buddhists, Baha'is, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).
Yoruba people
The Yoruba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language...
, one of the African peoples who were imported to Cuba during the 16th through 19th centuries to work on the sugar plantations. Santería blends elements of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and West African beliefs and as such made it possible for the slaves to retain their traditional beliefs while appearing to practice Catholicism. La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre (Our Lady Of Charity) is the Catholic patroness of Cuba, and is greatly revered by the Cuban people and seen as a symbol of Cuba. In Santería, she has been syncretized with the goddess Ochún. The important religious festival "La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre" is celebrated by Cubans annually on 8 September. Other religions practised are Palo Monte, and Abakuá
Abakuá
Abakua or Abakuá is an Afro-Cuban men's initiatory fraternity, or secret society, which originated from fraternal associations in the Cross River region of southeastern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon...
, which have large parts of their liturgy in African languages.
History
After the communist revolutionCuban 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...
of 1959, Cuba restricted religious practice, this led to persecution of many Catholics at universities and jobs.
On paper, the government "recognizes" the right of citizens to profess and practice any religious belief within the framework of respect for the law; however, in law and in practice, the Government places restrictions on freedom of religion.
From 1959 to 1961 eighty percent of the professional Catholic priests and Protestant ministers left Cuba for the United States. Relationships between the new government and congregations were tense, the new Cuban government was very limiting and suspicious of church operations, blaming them for collaboration with the CIA during the Bay of Pigs invasion
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful action by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba, with support and encouragement from the US government, in an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The invasion was launched in April 1961, less than three months...
and stockpiling arms provided for a "counter-revolution".
In accordance with the traditional antireligious doctrine of marxist-leninist ideology, the state adopted a policy of promoting 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...
. Religious beliefs were considered backward, reactionary, ignorant, and superstitious.
The 'Committees for Defense of the Revolution' said
Studies appeared that attempted to link Afro-Cuban religions with mental illness . The campaign for the eradication of racial discrimination in Cuba was (and still is) used as grounds to forbid the creation of Afro-Cuban institutions, because doing so was labelled as racially divisive .
Religious believers suffered from discrimination at schools and at work .
The decade following the 1960s was turbulent, and many believers chose to hide their faith in response to the state persecution. Many parents did not wish to burden their children with the difficulties that they would inherit if they were baptized Christians, and therefore did not raise them as such. The archdiocese of Havana in 1971 reported only 7000 baptisms . In 1989 this figure had increased to 27,609 and in 1991 to 33,569 .
In 1985 the Council of State in Havana published a best-selling book called Fidel y la Religion, which was the condensed transcription of 23 hours of interviews between Fidel Castro and a Brazilian liberation theology
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions...
friar named Frei Betto, O.P. He claimed responsibility for excluding non-atheists from Communist party membership on grounds that:
What we were demanding was complete adherence to Marxism-Leninism...It was assumed that anybody who joined the party would accept the party's policy and doctrine in all aspects
In the years following and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the state adopted a more conciliatory position towards religion and lessened its promotion of atheism. In November 1991, the Communist party began to allow believers into its ranks. In July 1992, the constitution was amended to remove the definition of Cuba as being a state based on Marxism-Leninism, and article 42 was added, which prohibited discrimination on the basis of religious belief . Small worship centres were legally permitted to exist again.
Nevertheless, by the early 1990s, after three decades of state atheism, Cuban society had become almost totally secularized. Weekly church attendance on the island of 11 million was estimated at around 250,000 or about 2% of the population (with an even division between Catholics and protestants) . Cuba had fewer priests per inhabitant than any other Latin American country.
Since 1992, restrictions have been eased and direct challenges by state institutions to the right to believe eased somewhat, though the church still faces restrictions of written and electronic communication, and can only accept donations from state-approved funding sources. The Roman Catholic Church is made up of the Cuban Catholic Bishops' Conference (ccbc), led by Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, Cardinal Archbishop of Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
. It has eleven dioceses, 56 orders of nuns and 24 orders of priests.
The Cuban Bishops' conference has been very critical of the US embargo against Cuba and has claimed that the entire population has suffered from it. The US catholic bishops' conference has been influenced by this and has argued that food and medicine should be excluded from the embargo .
In January 1998, 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 ...
paid a historic visit to the island, invited by the Cuban government and Catholic Church. He criticized the US embargo during his visit.
On October 20, 2008, the first Orthodox Church
Orthodox Christianity
The term Orthodox Christianity may refer to:* the Eastern Orthodox Church and its various geographical subdivisions...
in Cuba opened during an official ceremony attended by Raul Castro.
Santeria in Cuba
The arrival and endurance of Santeria (also known as Regla de Ocha) in Cuba is the result of multiple contributing factors. The roots of Santeria stem from Nigeria and were transported to Cuba by way of the Lucumi people. However, the Lucumi people only consisted of about 8% of the overall slave population in Cuba from 1760 until about 1850. With such low numbers to draw upon the religion was under constant attack in the form of dilution through more dominant numbers in the form of reproductive outsourcing and the cruelty inflicted through the employment of slavery. Between 1800 and 1850 almost the entire population in Cuba consisted of people of African descent. This factor created a sense of uncertainty for Plantation owners because of tensions amongst the slave population. The slave rivalries eventually resulted in an ever-rising loss in production. The method for combating the losses yielded that an increase in the Lucumi population would serve the plantation best. Lucumi people are known to be hard workers and are mild mannered.. As result of increasing import of slaves the population of the Lucumi rose sharply to about 34%. Attributing to the increase of Santeria was that many other slaves and freemen began to practice the religion of Santeria thereby increasing the span of influence and affiliation in a more diverse manner.The disposition of colonialism brought a significant strain on all religions outside of Catholicism. Over the course of a 90-year span the Lucumi maintained the practice of the religion of Santeria. The religion of Santeria encompasses sacrificial food, song, dance, costumes, spiritual deities and the use of artifacts. In the beginning the Lucumi and other worshippers of Santeria would have to practice in secret. They would create hasty areas in which they would conduct structuralized practice of Santeria and return to their colonial life after. However, the practice of Santeria on a more regular basis takes place not on the sugar plantations but in the urban areas. The syncretism that modernized Santeria was introduced when high-class Mulattoes needed to find ways to alleviate ailments such as stress or sickness. There was no formal medical aid available to the community at the time. In light of this disposition high-class Mulattoes pulled from whatever resources that they could find. They employed the practices of Christian taught house slaves with Afro-Cuban healers and Spanish curanderos.The Afro-Cuban healers and Spanish curandero
Curandero
A curandero or curandeiro is a traditional folk healer or shaman in Latin America, who is dedicated to curing physical or spiritual illnesses. The role of a curandero or curandera can also incorporate the roles of psychiatrist along with that of doctor and healer. Many curanderos use Catholic...
s served as the only medical practitioners in Cuba and were responsible for treating both the Black and White population. The distance between the city and the countryside made it very difficult for the opportunity of slaves to participate in the syncretism of Santeria with Catholicism and Christianity. This was due to geographic reference. Most of the European religious practice and churches were located the urban areas or towns and to attend services would require traveling over long distances, which would interfere with the sugar production. In the urban areas slaves worked alongside freemen and White Cubans in a less restricted atmosphere. They were educated and trusted to perform skilled labor and given a great deal of responsibility. Their presence served in a number of diverse jobs, which acted as a catalyst for the syncretism of Santeria with Catholicism and Christianity. Not every slave in Cuba complied with the employment of slavery. Cimmarones, as the Cuban slave owners labeled them, were a group of slaves who fled captivity and formed communities consisting of thousands of people. They took refuge in the wilderness and the mountains of Cuba where they maintained the practice of Santeria. They were considered a very serious threat to the colonial government's hold on slavery and oppression. The Cimarrones were able to elude capture and to provide aid and shelter to other escaped slaves. Over the course of time they developed the means to communicate with other surrounding secret camps via the plantation slaves and friendly White Cubans. Other slaves and freemen who lived in rural areas formed secret societies and groups in which they would exercise their religious beliefs of Santeria out of the public view to avoid colonial reform and oppression. After the abolishment of slavery Palenque, the Cimarrones establishment was converted into a town named El Cobre after surviving for fifty years. In the religion of Santeria the emphasis of conscious existence binds the understanding of nature, the higher powers, and the channels of lineage together through ritual practice and clairvoyance. The circle is a symbol that is divided into three sections that begin at the core with people and extend out into two other sections being ancestors and finally divinities. The significance of people at the inner core stand to represent the present day of existence and understanding in the form of perception with in the individual as he or she can interpret the information surrounding them. The outer layer of the ancestor represents the heritable understanding that the individual carries with them as a source of how and why to interpret values of perception with in a given realm. The outmost layer represents divinity is the value of knowledge, direction and understanding that is acquired from Orishas and personal experience. The existence the circle represents is not a fixed plain of understanding but stands as an interchangeable ever evolving and rotating sense of awareness and being. Santeria lineage is structured in the connection through Sibs (a group of kin) with each Sib being traced back to a common male ancestor linking the bloodlines to the religion. “There were three different routes for the transmission of Orisha worship. A child could inherit an Orisha from either its mother or father and continue their worship of it. In this case a triangular relationship existed between the child, the parent, and the Orisha”.
Jehovah's Witnesses
As of 2009, there were 91,651 active Jehovah's WitnessesJehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
in 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...
(about 0.9 % of the population), in 1250 congregation
Local church
A local church is a Christian congregation of members and clergy.Local church may also refer to:* Local churches , a Christian group based on the teachings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, and associated with the Living Stream Ministry publishing house.* Parish church, a local church united with...
s. Over 200,000 attended the observance of the Memorial of Christ's death
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
in that year.
From 1938 to 1947, the number of Jehovah's Witnesses in Cuba increased from about 100 to 4,000. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, membership in Cuba increased to 20,000, and by 1989 there were approximately 30,000 members. The movement was banned in Cuba in 1974, and members have been imprisoned for their refusal of military service
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
. During the Mariel boatlift
Mariel boatlift
The Mariel boatlift was a mass emigration of Cubans who departed from Cuba's Mariel Harbor for the United States between April 15 and October 31, 1980....
in 1980, about 3000 Witnesses left Cuba. They were forced out because "they continued to worship God in their own way." In 1994, the Cuban government released representatives of the Watch Tower Society
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania is a non-stock, not-for-profit organization headquartered in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, United States. It is the main legal entity used worldwide by Jehovah's Witnesses to direct, administer and develop doctrines for the religion...
, and members were permitted to meet in groups of up to 150 at Kingdom Hall
Kingdom Hall
A Kingdom Hall is a place of worship used by Jehovah's Witnesses. The term was first suggested in 1935 by Joseph Franklin Rutherford, then president of the Watch Tower Society, for a building in Hawaii...
s and other places for worship. A branch office of Jehovah's Witnesses, with a printery, was opened in Havana in the same year. In 1998, Witnesses were permitted to meet at larger conventions in major cities in Cuba.
Further Reading
- Charles Spencer King.,"Nature's Ancient Religion Orisha Worship & IFA" ISBN 978-1440417337
See also
- Jews in Cuba
- Islam in CubaIslam in CubaAccording to a 2009 Pew Research Center report, there are 9,000 Muslims in Cuba who constitute 0.1% of the population.At a certain point there were many Muslim students entering the nation of Cuba interested in studying at Cuba's prestigious schools. The amount of students was approximately...
- Christianity in CubaChristianity in CubaChristianity is a religion active also in Cuba.From 1959 to 1961 eighty percent of the professional Catholic priests and Protestant ministers of Cuban churches left Cuba for the United States...
- Protestantism in CubaProtestantism in Cuba-Overview:While Protestants arrived in the island of Cuba early in its colonial days, most of their churches did not flourish until the twentieth century with the assistance of American missionaries...