THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN CUBAN SOCIETY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HAVANA 000897 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR WHA/CCA E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/16/2017 TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL CU SUBJECT: THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN CUBAN SOCIETY Classified By: COM: Michael E. Parmly: For reasons 1.4 b/d ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: COM's attendance at the September 7 procession of Our Lady of Regla, along with his visit the following day to the Church of Our Lady of la Caridad del Cobre, offered opportunity to observe the dynamics of the Catholic Church,s place in Cuban society. Both events enjoyed large turnouts of civil society; beyond religion, race and nationalism were also present. End Summary. ¶2. (C) COM went to the procession in Regla, a Havana municipality, for the celebration of Our Lady of Regla. The turnout was not very large, but predictably poor and mainly black, like the population of Regla. The church is not very large but was full of people expressing much emotion, to the point that the priest looked a bit overwhelmed at times. ¶3. (C) The police presence was significant. Car traffic was blocked and there were sizable knots of uniformed police on every corner and in every doorway. The procession carrying the statue of the Virgin of Regla was only allowed to file out of the church, loop around the small park in front of the church, and head back inside; all in about 20 minutes. ¶4. (C) COM was struck by the sizable number of dissidents in the crowd, all of whom came over to greet him and to express how thrilled they were to see him there. The priest made a bold statement halfway through the procession. The statue stopped at a corner for prayers, and the priest prayed, "That in future years, we will be authorized to parade through the entire town as we once used to, so that the whole population of Regla can worship their patron." The reaction was mixed, loud applause from the crowd and stone faces from the police watching. ¶5. (C) On September 8, COM joined the crowd that, despite a steady rain, attended Havana's Church of Our Lady of la Caridad del Cobre (NSdlC),the patron saint of Cuba. Having been to last year's celebration, COM compared both notwithstanding this year's rain. Arriving early, the crowd was still thin, yet a Reuters reporter told COM, "Half this crowd is cops." Perhaps, but by start time the crowd had grown considerably, both in the church and even more, in the street outside. Several hundred had gathered along narrow Centro Habana streets. Many of the Damas De Blanco, as well as numerous independent journalists, intellectuals, artists and other individuals who have visited the COM Residence attended. Additionally, there was a smattering from the Cuban and foreign press corps (mainly photographers). ¶6. (C) The rain continued to fall and a few priests who are COM contacts and who were in charge of organizing the event said that Cardinal of Cuba Jaime Ortega, who would lead the procession, was having second thoughts about doing it due to the steady rain. The crowd began getting restless and, seemingly spontaneously, started to chant, "Bring her (the small statue of NSdlC, carried in a glass case) Out." (In Spanish: "Que la saquen!") The chant continued for several minutes, building in volume and intensity. As the rain continued, some on the street started pressing towards the Church entrance, presumably to get dry. The priests started closing the iron gates, which immediately provoked a chant of "Open them!" (In Spanish: "Que las abran.") The doors opened immediately. Then the chant switched back to "Que la saquen!" and continued for several more minutes, of varying volume and intensity. With that, word came: The procession will start immediately, with the Cardinal in the lead. And so it went. ¶7. (C) The procession followed its same route as last year, about a three-kilometer run through major intersections and down several main thoroughfares, past Chinatown, looping back into Centro Habana and to the Church. In contrast to last year, when the police presence was massive (the first major outdoor event after Fidel,s Proclama),this year uniformed police were almost nowhere to be seen and mostly confined themselves to trying to stay dry, huddling in doorways. The only other official presence were two reps from Caridad Diego,s office. ¶8. (C) When people recognized COM (which was frequent),they HAVANA 00000897 002 OF 002 invariably came up to offer greetings and to ask him to, "Pray for the people of Cuba." As is often the case in Cuba, there was the usual array of pro-American t-shirts. Again despite the rain, many people stood on balconies and prayed along with the marchers. They also occasionally showered flower petals or confetti down on the marchers. There was a positive, even festive atmosphere throughout. ¶9. (C) The Cardinal's sermon at the subsequent Mass was more subdued than last year, but he acknowledged the crowd's role in having the event come off at all. "When I saw the rain, I intended to cancel the procession, so that you would not get wet. But when I heard your chants, I decided to heed your call." The faithful responded with a thunderous applause. A church organizer whispered to COM during the Mass that it was more complicated than that: "Had the procession not gone on, there would have been serious public order problems." ¶10. (C) Comment: Too much should not be made of the incidents, but these two snapshots of Havana confirm the delicacy of the moment, as people continue to wait for word on Fidel,s health, on the economic situation, on rumors of new economic measures, and see nothing. The regime is not consistent: Witness the heavy uniformed police presence in Regla vs. the exceptional discretion in Centro Habana the following day, and it can't just be because of the rain. The sizable civil society turnout at both events was gratifying, but these were not just religious events. Race and Cuban nationalism were present themes at both. PARMLY