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

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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