In the histories of Catholicism in the Cuban revolution, overarching themes of the latter half of the 20th century come together. Histories of the Cuban Church are situated within the contexts
106 Among the recent studies on Latin American Catholicism is the work by Maria Clara Bingemer (2016).
Bingemer places Cuba on the map of global Catholicism through liberation theology and its link with the Cuban revolution and Marxist ideology. As shown in the forthcoming chapters of this study, the argument is somewhat controversial from a Cuban perspective and emblematic of the proposed revolutionary historiography regarding the role of religion in the revolution. For further reference, see Bingemer 2016, 27.
107 See, for instance, Melloni 2006; Barberini 2007.
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of the Cuban revolution and the Cold War; yet simultaneously, they pertain to histories of modern Catholicism, Catholic encounters with communism, and theological realignments of global Catholicism in the 20th century. The Cuban case both derives from and is reflected in all these historical markers and landmark episodes.
As my research shows, histories of Cuban Catholicism pertain to a broader field of historic processes and phenomena. Yet in studies of contemporary Catholicism, Cuba rarely surfaces. Studies focusing on the Catholicism and communism, the Holy See and diplomacy, Ostpolitik, and Latin American and Caribbean church history seldom include Cuba in their stories. Yet, as I discuss further in the concluding section of this dissertation, the case of Cuba intersects with all of these dimensions of Catholic historiography and fields of scholarly work approaching Cuban Catholicism. While Cuba must be placed into dialogue with all of them, none of them suffices to excavate the Cuban Catholic experience in the revolution.
In a similar manner, the complexity of the Cuban revolution and the scholarly study of it show that the history of the revolution cannot be reduced to explanations provided by singular perspectives on Cuba in the 20th century. Diplomacy, foreign policy, economics, and international relations open essential perspectives, but they do little to deconstruct the long history of accounting for Cuba’s past through the histories of the other. Correspondingly, on the island the histories of the revolution cannot not be satisfactorily explained as histories of institutions or individuals alone; nor do they cover the full scale of the revolution if looked at only from the perspective of either the power exercised by the State or the categories of resistance to the State. Neither the accounts on the island nor those among the communities of Cuban exiles tell the whole story of Cuban identity in the revolution; claims of truth about the revolution are not the sole preserve of either side of the Florida Straits, nor do they belong to single pieces of scholarly work. The stories of the Cuban revolution are more complex and warrant more attention for the many messy, uneasy histories.
Therefore, my research both builds on and makes the argument that the case of Cuban Catholicism must be studied primarily in its Cuban context with its intertwining layers and complexities. None of the perspectives from global Catholicism or histories of the revolution suffice to answer the persistent, yet elusive, questions of Catholic experiences in the revolutionary reality. In order to access the experiences of those on the island who lived through the revolution, the case of the Catholic Church in Cuba must be studied primarily in its Cuban context with predominantly Cuban voices. Furthermore, in-depth analysis of ecclesial histories of the revolution underscores the importance of directing scholarly attention at the voices historicizing the revolutionary experience from within. The history of the revolution is not recounted the same way in Cuba as it is in the United States, or in Africa or Europe. The historical accounts of the revolution in the United States, African or European countries are not uniform nor do they completely overlap with Cuban historiography. In Cuba as well, multiple interpretations exist of the history of the revolution. Despite official and establishes narratives, voices emerging from within the Cuban reality of life suggest that the stories of the revolution are not phrased in synchronized tones on the island.
As I anchor my research in the Cuban context, Catholicism, and the revolution as they were experienced and discussed on the island, I am aware of the several profoundly significant threads which I do not discuss in this dissertation. Despite the inarguable influence of Cuban Catholicism in the United States, the scope of this work does not include the experiences of
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exile and the diaspora of Cuban Catholics as discussed outside the island. Following these parameters, with the voices emerging from Cuban primary sources located on the island as the predominant factor for inclusion and exclusion, many of the historical events with remarkable significance for the Cuban-American experience are not discussed in the scope of this study. If they are excluded, it is for the reason that were no sources available in Cuba or that the topics are considered to pertain primarily to discourse not arising directly from the internal reality of the Church in Cuba. If they are included in the overarching narrative of this study, it is by the use of sources located on the island and to provide a complementary perspective to scholarly discourse or the established paradigms from within the revolutionary reality.
In a similar manner, discourse on global Catholicism, such as the Holy See in Cuba, is always initiated by Cuban voices. By framing the dissertation in this way, the research allows me to recover and excavate previously unacknowledged perspectives on both Cuban and global discourses on Catholicism and the revolution. Other topics not discussed include santería, and the connection of Afro-Cuban religiosity to Catholicism. The only occasions in which the close-relatedly, overlapping spiritual tradition is addressed is when the sources explicitly discuss religiosidad popular in the context of the revolution.
Closely connecting to the multiple, intertwining contexts in which this study is located, critical remarks on terminology reveal deeper currents in the perspectives and conceptualizations of both Catholicism and the Cuban revolution. In this study, I follow Cuba scholars’ convention of using “revolution” as an umbrella term to encompass the multitude of political, social, and cultural processes that have taken place in Cuba since 1959, while also remaining conscious of the elusive, interpretative meanings and uses of the term.108 The word revolution is not capitalized as per usual in international scholarship, even though in Cuba the word Revolution is capitalized, accentuated correspondingly in speech, and understood as an ongoing process initiated by el Triunfo de la Revolución (the triumph of the Revolution), or cuando triunfó la Revolución (when the Revolution triumphed), in January 1959.109 As a reference to the machinery of the revolution, terms such as “revolutionary government” and
“revolutionary regime,” consisting of “revolutionaries” and “militants,” are generally referred to in international scholarship110 as agents of “the revolutionary project,” “revolutionary process,” and “revolutionary reality,” all referring to the vision of the revolution portrayed by its leadership and experienced by people narrating histories of life in the revolution.
Equally elusive are the concepts that this study also accommodates as practical markers for addressing Catholicism. Likewise in religious terminology, “Catholicism” and “Catholics”
are umbrella terms that encompass a myriad of interpretations, cultures, personalities, and identities. “Cuban Catholicism” is not an ahistorical monolith nor an established set of features in scholarly work; this study also strives to illustrate the fluidity in the intertwining ideas of la cubanidad111, Catholicism, and the revolution. While aware of the risk of using simplistic, uniform, and cohesive concepts that undermine the complexity of both Catholicism and the
108 Hamilton 2012, 13; Bustamante & Lambe 2019, 24–25.
109 Hamilton 2012, 13.
110 See, for instance, Chase 2015.
111 La cubanidad, “Cubanness,” refers to the self-identification of Cubans to the essential features of being Cuban. The term is often used in scholarly work: see Tweed 1997, 29; De La Torre 2003, 16; Thomas-Woodard 2003.
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revolution and their dynamics of power and contestation between institutions and people, these terms serve as necessary markers on the roadmap: they help to illustrate the political and social processes that form the essential context of this study. Use of the terms “the revolution,” “the State,” “Catholicism,” and “the Church” as monolithic concepts serves to reinforce a pretext regarding the abstract loci of power and authority.
Yet both Catholic and revolutionary mechanisms and dynamics of power also consist of individuals with a focus on “you and me”112 sustaining the concept of a state. Following this argument, my research suggests that “you and me” becomes the driving force also for conceptualizing Cuban Catholicism in the revolution. While terms such as “episcopate” and
“episcopal hierarchy” are used in this study, they are also recognized as constructions of institutional origin that may be referred to as “bishops” to emphasize the human faces of the institution. Correspondingly, “clergy” and “laity” refer not only to the cohorts of the ecclesial ranks, but also to “priests” and “laypeople”—individuals with identities more multifaceted than any terms used in reference to them.
Some of those voices are recaptured and reconstructed in the chapters that follow. Chapter II sets the backdrop for this study by presenting brief outlines of the global political and Catholic contexts in which the Cuban revolution and ecclesial life take place and are mirrored against.
By offering a summary of the course of the Cuban revolution and its grand foundations in ideology and historiography, the chapter leads towards the landmark year of 1959. As the first section drawing on Cuban primary sources, chapter III follows the Catholic discourse on receiving, discussing, and, ultimately, contesting the revolution. The chapter traces the voices of the episcopal hierarchy, clergy, and militant laity and the extent to which they are intertwined, yet also traces contrasting discourses on the participation of Catholics in the revolution. By the end of the chapter, religion and revolution become mutually exclusive, resulting in constructions of Catholicism in the revolution through a narrative of absence and silence via both the revolution’s historiographical narratives and scholarly paradigms from 1961 onwards.
Chapter IV thus moves into uncharted territories of the revolution. From 1962 to 1968, it focuses on both the internal discourses and life of Catholic communities within the daily conditions of social control imposed by the revolution. By means of a layered account of voices, the chapter analyzes the life of the Church in the revolution as experienced by both the clergy and laity. At the same time, the chapter reveals previously unexplored global ecclesial relations between Cuba and the world. These intertwining histories come together in the emerging and increasingly critical assessment of ecclesial life and work on the island, as mirrored against the changes taking place in global Catholicism. In chapter V, a deepening perspective on the everyday experiences of Catholics in the revolutionary reality provides for an analysis of the intertwining, shared spaces of religious and revolutionary Cubans. In this chapter, a particular focus on the years 1969–1978 gives rise to the emergence of lay voices and, consequently, provides frameworks for reflection from the standpoint of global Catholicism. The chapter traces the new generation of influential theologians and committed laypeople immersed in the grassroots reality of the Cuban everyday, pointing towards increased social participation.
112 Bustamante 2019.
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As chapter VI then discusses, the preceding development results in a systemic reflection on ecclesial life and pastoral work on the island. A fundamental pathway pursued throughout the chapter is the extensive, candid discussion of the experiences of Catholics in the revolutionary society from 1979 to 1986, revealing the changes already taking place in the lived reality of Catholics in their daily lives. Voices of both the clergy and, most importantly, laity provide a striking display of religious life in the revolution. This unfolding discourse makes visible both shifts in the dynamics of power and the emergence of new voices in the ecclesial reality. When mirrored against the course of the revolutionary process, these discourses mark a new opening in Church–State relations, suggesting increasing exposure for religion in the revolutionary reality.
In order to emphasize the new historical knowledge produced by this research, and to engage in an exchange with existing scholarship, each of the chapters concludes with a discussion. In these sections, the overarching arguments of the chapter are summarized and mirrored against pre-existing scholarly work, enabling a reflection on both the historical knowledge and scholarly constructions of religion in the Cuban revolution. In the concluding chapter of the dissertation, chapter VII, these findings are then discussed from the perspective of both summarizing the accomplishments of this research and linking them to the broader body of works on religion and the Cuban revolution, also pointing to new openings in future scholarship.
II THE COLD WAR, CATHOLICISM, AND THE CUBAN REVOLUTION, 1959–1986
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