CUBA CRACKING DOOR OPEN TO MORE CATHOLIC CLERGY

C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 011629

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE DEPT FOR WHA/CCA AND DRL/IRF

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2016
TAGS: PHUM SOCI CU
SUBJECT: CUBA CRACKING DOOR OPEN TO MORE CATHOLIC CLERGY

REF: A. HAVANA 10604

B. STATE 60294

Classified By: COM Michael Parmly for Reason 1.4(d).


1. (C) Summary: The Cuban Government has eased its strict
limits on issuing work permits to foreign Catholic clergy.
The GOC has long adhered to a policy of approving new
applicants only to the extent that they replace clergy who
have stopped working in Cuba. However, since June 2005, the
GOC has granted work permits to eight priests and 14 nuns who
entered Cuba as non-replacements. The GOC also has allowed
into the country three new Catholic congregations, or
"orders." In addition, the country's 13 bishops are now
enjoying limited Internet access, following their November
2005 meeting with Fidel Castro. The number of Catholic
priests in Cuba remains minuscule at 344, in country of 11.2
million. End Summary.


2. (C) The GOC has eased its strict limits on issuing work
permits to foreign Catholic clergy, according to Havana's
Nunciature First Secretary Antoine Camilleri. On May 18,
Camilleri told Poloff that, in the past, the GOC kept the
number of foreign Catholic clergy in Cuba constant by only
approving new applicants to replace foreign clergy who were
finishing their tours of duty in Cuba. However, since June
2005, the GOC has granted work permits to eight priests and
14 nuns who entered Cuba as non-replacements. In addition,
the GOC has, for the first time in recent memory, allowed
into the country three new Catholic congregations, or
"orders," including Franciscan nuns from Colombia. "The fact
that three new congregations have been allowed in is very
encouraging," Camilleri said. "This is something new,
certainly not seen in recent years. (It marks) a departure
from the GOC's traditional way of doing things."


3. (C) In another positive development for the Church, the
country's 13 bishops are for the first time enjoying official
Internet access, albeit in a limited manner. The 13 still
lack Internet access at their offices or homes, but they can
go online at the Havana headquarters of the Conference of
Bishops. This service began in December 2005 or January
2006, shortly after the bishops' November 2005 meeting with
Fidel Castro. Said Camilleri: "I'm not going to say this is
a direct result (of the meeting),but... you could attribute
it to the new climate."


4. (C) The number of Catholic priests in Cuba remains tiny at
344, serving a country of 11.2 million, of which the Church
estimates that 60 percent were baptized as Catholics. Of
these 344, Camilleri said, 188 are "diocesan" (aka "secular")
and 156 "religious" priests. Among the "religious" priests
in Cuba, including Dominicans, Jesuits and Franciscans, the
majority are non-Cuban; many are from Spain or Mexico.

COMMENT
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5. (C) Deep fissures remain in the relationship between the
GOC and the Catholic Church. While most of Cuba's Church
figures realize that totalitarian repression is inconsistent
with Christian teachings, the Church's hierarchy in Havana
has decided that accommodation with the government is
necessary to keep the Church open. The GOC's relaxation of
its policies on Internet access and work permits for clergy
is a step in the right direction, but is in a context that
also includes intense harassment of priests who criticize the
regime. This past spring, for example, a French-citizen
priest who, according to parishoners, had a penchant for
speaking forcefully on human rights themes in his weekly
homilies, was summarily transferred out of Cuba. This is just
the latest example.
PARMLY