The Vatican and Cuba – Intro to International Relations

An article on Al-Jazeera America by Alfonso Serrano reports that the Cuban government plans on building the first Catholic church since 1959, when Fidel Castro deemed the Church an elitist institution and enshrined atheism in the new constitution. According to the article, Castro even sent priests to labor camps or forced them into exile. Only in 1991 with the fall of the USSR did the Catholic Church find more autonomy on the island. In 1996, Fidel Castro visited Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, a visit that was reciprocated two years later, leading Cuba to recognize Christmas as a national holiday. So needless to say, it’s been a long process.

While the Vatican–Vatican City, more accurately–is technically a state, it seems to act more as a non-state actor. It is, after all, a church. If we consider it a non-state actor, it has the unique position of having “members” (through the Catholic Church) in nearly every country, giving it a sense of importance and even priority during talks and contact with other countries. There are Catholics in socialist nations and capitalist nations alike. So exactly what is Cuba and the Vatican trying to get at by building this church? What does this mean on the international stage? Serrano reports that:

Cuba watchers say the political capital gained by helping Cuba mend its relationship with the U.S. will help Francis nudge the Castro government toward providing more religious and political freedom on the island. In similar fashion, the pontiff is expected to appeal for an end to the U.S. embargo against Cuba.

Serrano suggests that there is a complex interplay of interests between Cuba, the United States, and the Vatican, and that Pope Francis is attempting to change the current dynamic. While US-Cuba relations have relaxed over the past year, US citizens still cannot travel to Cuba without certain permits, and trade is heavily limited. Francis may want the US and Cuba to fully reconcile in hopes that greater US influence will push Cuba to further liberalize its position on Catholicism and religion in general. By building this new church, Francis may be indicating to the US that things are already changing in Cuba and that the US should see Cuba as a positively developing state.

Jorge Duany, the director of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University, told Serrano:

What the Cuban government has sought to do since it began this process of rapprochement with the church is to gain more legitimacy and to be able to project an international image of acceptance of people who have religious beliefs. There has been talk about the Mass in Havana, in the Square of the Revolution, where images of Christ are going to be standing next to images of Che Guevara and other revolutionary heroes. It’s sort of a ritualistic performance of the Cuban government and the Catholic Church as the major group of believers on the island.

It appears that if Catholicism gains more respect from the state, it will be accompanied by socialist iconography alongside Christian iconography. Whether this brand of religious liberalization is “enough” for the United States may become apparent in the coming years.

Madeline Wittich says:

September 23, 2015 at 7:20 am

Hey Cole! I like this post – it sparks my curiosity as to whether or not we can look at the Catholic church as a World Federation. In this specific circumstance, the church is helping to mend relations between two countries – the US and Cuba. It is interesting that a church actor is helping to make this change given the non-religious nature of the US. Another recent way the Catholic Church has acted as a World Federation is it’s involvement in the Syrian Refugee crisis. An article from the Washington Post talks about Pope’s request — “Issuing a broad appeal to Europe’s Catholics, Pope Francis on Sunday called on “every” parish, religious community, monastery and sanctuary to take in one refugee family — an appeal that, if honored, would offer shelter to tens of thousands.” In this circumstance the Pope isn’t necessarily mending nations together or solving governmental issues – he is putting aside governmental actions and asking individuals in each country to take in a family. He is going around the typical way of going about solving world-wide problems – he is going directly to the people. So, given the Pope’s recent action in Cuba and Syria – can we think of the Catholic Church as a World Federation?