THE CLERIC IN CUBA AND THE UNITED STATES HARDEN THEIR POSITIONS

The cleric of Cuba which had always eulogized the US system as being "the most powerful Christian nation in the free world”, followed the same script as that of the church in Washington.  The script which was basically directed by cardinal Spellman and Cushing, relied on a campaign of disinformation and cold war tactics against the Cuban revolution.  The support of the Cuban Catholic hierarchy towards the aggressive and dirty politics of the US towards Cuba was clearly shown when the archbishop of Santiago de Cuba, Pérez Serrante, announced in his pastoral letter Without Traitors and with Unity, "...we have no hesitation -and we would be cowards if we did not say - that in choosing between Americans and Soviets we would not hesitate in our choice".  In adopting this stance he was not only ignoring the realities of the time, but was defining who was the friend and who was the enemy.

On December 4 1960, the Cuban church published an open letter to Prime Minister Dr. Fidel Castro, which basically condemned him for starting an anti-religious campaign.  Two days later the archbishop of Santiago rejected the revolutionary press when the press pointed out that the church had never condemned "those that amassed riches with the exploitation, the sweat and the tears of those who lived and died without hope".

As a reply to a series of pastoral letters published at the time Bohemia magazine wrote, "...it is not just a question of thinking about discrimination.  It is the question of combating discrimination.  It is not just a question of bettering the lives of the workers; it is a question of supporting the revolution as it battles the lackeys of the bosses....Today it is a question on whether one is with the exploited and the poor or against them; if you for the oppressed then you are against the Jeffersons, the Cafferys, the Eisenhowers, the Rockefellers, the Dulles's, etc.

With respect to the polemic and confrontational attitude of the church, Prime Minister Fidel Castro criticized the hierarchy of the church for practicing "selective Christianity"; expressing that, "the real Christian...is the one who loves his neighbor, who sacrifices for others; are those that comply with the doctrines of Christ, giving all he can to the poor and leaving everything behind to serve those who need it the most.  Leave your temples and go help the sick in the fields, go and plant trees, build housing, help in the Agrarian Reform, weave clothing for those children that have not!  To do that is to be a real Christian!  To go to the doors of the temples and conspire against the nation is falsehood!  It is not Christian!"

RETURN TO THE INDEX