In Cuba discussions have begun to define a legal status for the Church as an institution. A highly confidential process has begun in Havana, that will in all likelihood be long and should lead to the definition of a legal status for the Catholic Church in Cuba (1) Some days ago, delegations representing the government and the Episcopate met officially to launch negotiations. When the delicate and complex discussions conclude, they should place the Cuban Church within a precise legal framework that has been lacking since the triumph of Fidel Castro’s “Revolution” in 1959.
85-year-old Raúl Castro is a staunch supporter of these negotiations, which the Pope and the island’s bishops strongly advocate. Raúl Castro, who has been President of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers since 24 February 2008 as well as first secretary of Cuba’s Communist Party since 2011, will reach the end of his second mandate on 28 February 2018. On the occasion of his re-election in February 2013, the leader clearly stressed his intention and repeated it on other occasions too: “I do not want to be re-elected a third time. In 2018 I’m standing down”.
22 months time
It is possible that President Castro wishes to conclude negotiations with the Cuban Church and indirectly with the Holy See represented by the Nuncio Mgr. Giorgio Lingua, in the 22 months before the end of his term. It would be a significant success for him, along with many others, which have been the mark of a deep reform process in a number of fields, especially the socio-economical, fiscal, tax fields and in the labour market. Such a success would add to the turning point in international politics when Castro – on 14 December 2014, along with President Barack Obama – announced the beginning of a process for the normalisation of diplomatic relations with Washington; a process that is continuing uninterrupted, although the biggest obstacle, the US embargo – a legacy of over half a century of bilateral hostility and tensions – has not been completely removed yet, with a decision by US Congress pending.
Historic gestures
As is known, at a certain point, Pope Francis got involved – at the request of both parties – in the lengthy and confidential negotiations between Havana and Washington, which began in Haiti in 2010 and were disclosed by the two presidents 16 months ago. Francis sent two letters, one to R. Castro and one to B. Obama. Between October and November 2014, the Vatican and the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin hosted the delegations for the preliminary signing of the final “Agreement”. This did not just mark a turning point but also the establishment of a relationship of deep mutual trust between Cuba and Pope Francis, between the Pope and President Castro. Two historic gestures were made within a brief period of time: Raúl Castro’s visit to the Pope in the Vatican on 10 May 2015 and Pope Francis’ visit to Cuba from 19 to 22 September 2015, which was added to the papal itinerary at the last minute and took place before his scheduled visit to the US, the UN and the 8th World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. The minimum conditions for the Pope’s return to Havana on 12 February 2016 matured in this climate of exchange. On this occasion, he returned to embrace his brother Kirill, Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, with whom he signed a joint declaration.
Duties and rights
In all these steps, as well as in previous steps that cannot be forgotten or underrated (John Paul II and Benedict XVI) there has always been a need to provide a legal framework for the existence and work of the Catholic Church in Cuba. Pope Francis has certainly renewed this call claiming that a consensual status would be hugely beneficial for the Cuban nation as well as the local Catholic community. The Cuban Church is free and freedom of worship is effectively guaranteed by the Constitution so the question regarding the legal status has nothing to do with these essential aspects.
The problem is essentially the lack of a legal recognition establishing duties and rights. Any bureaucratic or administrative crack that hinders or hampers the Church’s evangelising action needs to be eliminated.
There are many challenges ahead and although it is very likely that agreement has been reached over a number of these, there are others that still require a lot of work, as is the case, for example, with the Church’s access to the press and Catholic media (besides the parish newspaper and the website), Catholic education in schools, universities, prisons or intermediary civil and local institutions.
The Catholic Church in the midst of the Cuban transition
It is not an agreement that is being negotiated. Cuba does not want this and neither does the Apostolic See. What is being negotiated is an operational legal accord of the kind the Vatican has signed with a number of different countries such as the one signed with Palestine, on “essential aspects of the life and activity of the Church”, which came into force on 2 January. The potential agreement will have to take into account the unique institutionality of Cuba, which is right in the midst of a transition, with reforms that are making substantial changes to the nature of a system which according to the leadership of the Cuban Revolution, must remain essentially Socialist, but reinforced and “updated” with powerful injections of market economy principles. Shortly before the Pope’s visit in September 2015, Granma published a message welcoming the Pope, in which it wrote: the country “is immersed in the process of updating its socio-economic model, committed to the defense of our national sovereignty, the preservation of our social accomplishments, and achieving greater wellbeing for all, excluding no one.”
The most delicate challenge the Church faces is this: finding, within this system, the legal and operational space it needs to ensure a coexistence that earnestly respects and guarantees the autonomy of the parties involved. The government and the political institutional system must not feel threatened by the Church, even when it expresses criticism as it did on many occasions in the past. The Church must not feel the burden of bureaucratic and administrative controls, which have stifled growth for too long, turning the local Catholic community into a “bonsai Church”.
(1) The current Archbishop of Havana, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, does not form part of the Episcopal delegation and there could be an important explanation for this: the looming nomination of a successor. Ortega will turn 80 on 18 October this year.
