Religion in Cuba Trivia Quiz

Answer: Christianity - Roman Catholic

Like most of Latin America, colonisation by the Spanish and the Portuguese also bought Roman Catholicism, which became firmly entrenched soon after colonisation. In Cuba this began in 1511, when the Conquistador Diego Velazquez de Cuellar established the Catholic Church in Cuba in the same year. The establishment of this religion was due to the work of priest Fray Bartolome de las Casas who became known as "the Protector of the Indians".

Protestantism started in Cuba at roughly the same time (as most of the pirates and corsairs were Protestants), but these groups did not flourish in Cuba until the early 20th century, when American missionaries arrived, with funding from their home churches to increase Protestantism in Cuba.

Answer: West Africa

The Yoruba religion was brought to Cuba by West African slaves, particularly the Lucemi people of Nigeria. This religion was banned by the Christian slave owners, so the followers created a hybrid system which appeared to worship Roman Catholic saints to appease masters whilst practising their own religion.

The Yoruba religion had unique customs, including ancestor communication through trance and divination ideology, animal sacrifice, sacred drumming and story-line dances. By the appearance of worshipping saints on their sacred days, slave owners believed they were adopting Roman Catholic beliefs when in fact this was a mask for being able to practice their original beliefs.

Vodun (meaning spirit in the Fon and Ewe languages) has similar beliefs to Santeria, having originated in a neighbouring part of the world in West Africa. Vodun (also known as Voodoo) has its own followers in Cuba, but in far fewer numbers than in Haiti, where this religion is quite prevalent.

Answer: Medical

Most Afro-Cubans were based on plantations a long way from access to medical care in the cities. The role of the healer preceded the move to Cuba, but the Sanitarian healer role took on more importance in Cuba because of this distance from medical care. An African-Cuban healer (or curandero in Spanish) was a traditional native healer. Within Santeria these healers administered remedies to heal not just physical ailments, but also emotional, spiritual, and mental illnesses. Sort of a psychiatrist rolled up into a traditional doctor and spiritual healer. Remedies combined West African use of herbs, waters, and even mud, as well as the more spiritual Catholic elements, such as holy water and pictures of saints to help cure a whole manifest of illnesses.

Answer: Castro's regime restricted religious practice.

The incoming communist government led by Fidel Castro in 1959 severely limited the practice of all religions. Religious belief was at odds to the atheist and Marxist beliefs of the communist regime. In 1985, the Council of State in Havana published "Fidel y la Religion" which became a best-selling book. A friar named Frei Betto, transcribed 23 hours of Castro religious speeches and took responsibility for excluding from the Communist Party, any "non-atheist" because "What we were demanding was complete adherence to Marxism-Leninism. ... It was assumed that anybody who joined the party would accept the party's policy and doctrine in all aspects". However, religion was not forbidden: Catholic and Protestant churches were legal and allowed to continue. They did not flourish. In the 60s many Cubans lost any interest in religion because many members of the religious hierarchy were against the popular revolution, and did not propose their own revolution in protest.

It should be noted that the Castro regime did not outright ban religion or take a hard line stance, as happened in other communist countries like China and Vietnam.

Answer: False

It did not happen straight away (i.e. 1959-60), but in 1974 the Jehovah's Witnesses movement was banned in Cuba because of their members' refusal to serve in military service. Those who refused were imprisoned. Many left Cuba.

In 1994, there was a softening of this policy, as the religion's members were allowed to meet in small groups at Kingdom Halls and imprisoned members were released. In 1998 Jehovah's Witnesses were allowed to meet in convention centres. In 2016 there were approximately 96,000 active Jehovah's Witnesses in Cuba, making it one of the larger single religion groups.

Answer: True

A large Jewish immigration to Cuba occurred in the 1920s from Turkey, following the Ottoman Empire breakdown, and also from Russia. Both groups were attracted to the large garment industry that flourished in Cuba. By the 1950s there were 24,000 Jews in Cuba, but this figure dropped to less than a 1000 after the Cuban Revolution, with most going to the States via the 1960 boatlift. Over a thousand emigrated to Israel.

The Jewish religious presence in Cuba remained low. In 2001 the Cuban Coordinating Commission recognised 1,200 Jews for the purpose of distributing Passover food.

There is a single Kosher shop and a synagogue. When, in 2015, USA lifted sanctions against Cuba, Israel left theirs in place.

Answer: Pope John Paul II in 1998

After the Cold War ended, there was scope for a papal visit. Pope Jean Paul II was the first Pope to visit Cuba, in 1998. While he maintained a diplomatic position, he met Fidel Castro and the two exchanged gifts and had several civil meetings. The Pope conducted Mass for hundreds of thousands of Cubans in several locations. Nevertheless he introduced political rhetoric into his speeches and called for religious freedom and condemned state atheism. He also created a a new diocese in Cuba called the Diocese of Baracoa-Guatanamo. Bishop Carlos Baladron Valdeswho was at the the time an auxiliary bishop of Havana, was assigned to the new diocese as its first bishop.

Pope Benedict XVI was the second pontiff to visit Cuba in 2012, as did Pope Francis in 2015.

Answer: Cuba had the largest proportion of practising Roman Catholics in Latin America.

In the 2010 CID-Gallup survey Cuba had the lowest religious affiliation (54.3%), lowest Christian affiliation (50.2%) and lowest Protestant affiliation (4.3%). It did not have the lowest Roman Catholic affiliation (40.5%) but the three countries that were lower, were only marginally lower. The figure of 45.7% of people with no religious affiliation was the lowest in the region. Both Cuba and Uruguay are the only countries in Latin America where those who claim to have no religious affiliation exceeds 40%. All other countries in Latin America are less than 25%.

The percentage differed slightly from the 2000 survey but Cuba's position was unchanged.

Cuba is unusual as it is almost a secular society in a very religion-affiliated region. One can only attribute this to the effects of the Cuban Revolution.

Answer: He would attend the Masses conducted by the pope.

Raul Castro succeeded as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (the most senior position in Cuba) from his brother in 2011. In 2015, just before the time of Pope Francis' visit to Cuba, he announced in a television press conference, "I am from the Cuban Communist Party that doesn't allow believers, but now we are allowing it.

It's an important step." It is unclear what he meant by "believers". In the same conference he announced that he went to a Jesuit school, that he may start to pray again, and that he would attend the masses conducted by the Pontiff on his upcoming Cuban visit.

Answer: No

While the referendum voted over 91% in favour of the new constitution which included many democratic reforms, the constitution was silent on religious freedom, meaning the country still had an uneasy position where religion remains essentially unsupported by the state. Further, Cuba remained one of four communist states in the world at the time of its new constitution being ratified. This means it is a single party without an opposition. The Catholic Church has played a role in this space in the past as a de facto opposition. For example, it was able to to gain some concessions on same sex marriage provisions in the new constitution.

As long as Cuba remains communist, religion in Cuba is likely to remain, at best, tolerated.