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Cuba

The largest and most populous island in the Caribbean (about 43,000 square miles and 11 million inhabitants), Cuba is a former Spanish colony, originally populated by Taino Indians. The Taino were either killed or assimilated throughout the centuries, hence there is no ethnic group claiming to be native Cubans. However, many traces of Tainos can be found in the Cuban culture, whether in some place names, such as Guanabacoa or Baracoa, some meals (red pepper soup or ajiaco) or the use of cigar (tabaco) in some African American cults such as Santería.

Roman Catholic Church

Owing to its Spanish legacy, the largest religious institution in Cuba remains the Roman Catholic Church. It is difficult to assess the actual number of regular churchgoers, but the church claims that around 7,000,000 Cubans are baptized Catholics, among which 10% may go to church. There are 11 dioceses in Cuba. The relationship between the Catholic Church and the government regime were tense as the Castro-led guerillas took over from the Batista government in January 1959. More than 400 Catholic schools were closed in the following years, and many priests fled from the island. In 1961, Cuba was officially proclaimed an atheist country. In a 1965 speech, Ernesto “Che” Guevara, a major figure in the Cuban revolution, spoke about the emergence of “the New Man,” and the necessity to “get rid of the past”—hence, “superstitious beliefs” such as religious belief. Even though the 1976 constitution guaranteed the freedom of religion, all believers were barred access to the Communist Party. After the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, the former USSR stopped supplying Cuba with oil and various commodities, leading to a major economic crisis in the country; the period of economic disarray that followed—and still continues—was called periodo especial by Fidel Castro. Faced with mounting everyday difficulties, many Cubans turned to religion (Catholicism or African American cults). Since 1991, Catholics and followers of other religions have been allowed admittance into the Communist Party. In 1998, Pope John Paul II was given an official welcome by Fidel Castro. In the wake of his visit, Christmas was again recognized as a national holiday, and many people started to attend Mass in church, although in recent years, their number has leveled off.

Other Christian churches are also present on the island. Evangelical and Baptist churches can be found in some big city centers, while there are Pentecostal churches in some poor districts such as Párraga (Havana). There are also a number (probably fewer than 100,000) of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Judaism

Cuba used to have an important Jewish community, which came to Cuba in two waves: first, Spanish Sephardic Jews who fled from Spain during the Inquisition and then a wave of Ashkenazi Jews coming from the United States in the early 20th century. The district of Guanabacoa still has two Jewish cemeteries, the old one for Sephardic Jews and the new one for Ashkenazi Jews. The majority of Jews left Cuba after the revolution; however, there is still a small community that continues to hold services in Havana and other parts of the island.

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