III THE TIME OF CONTESTATION: 1959–1961
3. Politicized Religion, Religious Politics
The greatest demonstration of Catholic activity in the revolutionary process culminated in the organization of the National Catholic Congress in November 1959. Reacting to the threat of communism that the ecclesial hierarchy perceived as an approaching reality, the Church organized the First National Catholic Congress (El Primer Congreso Nacional Católico de Cuba) in Havana. The organize proclaimed that the three-day event represented the voice of the Church in Cuban society and aimed at mobilizing lay Catholics to actively participate in the life of the Church in its mission to stand in opposition to communism.126 The congress was also linked with the national assemblies of all four sub-organizations of Catholic Action, becoming a mobilizing meeting for the laity. All Cuban Catholics, and more broadly all Cubans, were invited to participate.127
The National Catholic Congress took place in a period of heightened tension and suspicion about increasing communist influences on the revolution. Initiated by Cuban bishops, but executed by lay members of, most importantly, Catholic Action, the congress responded to the perceived threats by voicing the Church’s disposition and presence in the declining civil society. Although the congress was organized by the clergy and committed lay members in Catholic associations,128 it was clearly aimed at the laity as a whole, with an aspiration of activating and mobilizing the larger public to critical awareness of the course of the revolution.
In a time when political and social life in Cuba was filled with political rallies of gigantic proportions, Fidel Castro appeared in public as the phenomenal leader giving speeches that could last for hours and the masses were both expected and eager to demonstrate their commitment to the revolution.129 Within the emerging parameters for public performance of the
124 Si tú tienes espíritu de A.C. tienes obediencia. Y si no tienes obediencia, no te hagas ilusiones, no eres acción católica. Aunque esté tu nombre en los ficheros de la Federación. Aunque cotices puntualmente. -- Y critiques las cosas mal hechos por los otros. - - Sin obediencia no eres A.C. Eres acción diabólica. No estás con Cristo. Porque El ‘fue obediente hasta la muerte’, es decir hasta morir por obediencia. AHAH AC JN M Mujeres de Acción Católica Cubana: Consejo Diocesano, Cienfuegos. Circular Julio 1959.
125 - - Goza con las alegrías de su madre y se entristece con sus penas; - - Y lloremos las penas de nuestra Madre la Iglesia, cuando se vea atacada. AHAH AC JN M Mujeres de Acción Católica Cubana: Consejo Diocesano, Cienfuegos. Circular Julio 1959.
126 BNJM CONGRESO CATÓLICO; Congreso en defensa de la Caridad 11/1959; Casavantes Bradford 2014, 74.
127 AHAH AC CD Circular Nro. 20 por Julio Casteñados Villiers 1.9.1959; DM 28.8.1959 Informan al Jefe del Estado sobre los preparativos del Congreso Católico Nacional.
128 AHAH AC CCLH Circular Septiembre de 1959; AHAH AC CCLH Circular No. 32 Octubre de 1959.
129 Guerra 2012, 37–38.
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revolution, a Catholic event of similar character responded to the production of cohesion in the revolution via a call for the unity of Catholics.
It was in the plan of the Church to include and inform the government on the preparation of the congress—and to engage the regime in the demonstration of Catholic power and influence on the course of the revolution. Already in August, Archbishop Díaz and the organizing committee had visited Fidel Castro, discussing the plan.130 In a similar manner, a group of delegates from Catholic Action's national committee had visited Cuba’s President Osvaldo Dorticós Torrada, informing him of the Congress’s proceedings and inviting him to join.131 In the midst of increased lay activity and the evolving revolutionary process, the hierarchy of the Church considered it essential to keep the State authorities informed and engaged. This suggests that while the Church had already begun to develop its autonomous stance towards the revolution, it still wished to both include the State in its own processes and be included in the future of the State. Alternatively, or correspondingly, it was also in the interests of the Church to maintain a communicative relationship with State authorities during a period when the future course of the revolution was as yet undefined. This is also speaks to the ongoing vision of the Church being able to influence the revolutionary process.
Despite the ongoing political discourse, the episcopate highlighted the nature of the congress as “exclusively Catholic”; the focus of the event was on the teaching and spirituality of the Church, and those were the factors giving birth to the congress.132 By a public demonstration, Catholics were demanding space for spirituality in the revolution and its political discourse, for the recognition of religiosity as an inscribed dimension of la cubanidad.133 In no other symbol was Cuban spirituality more present than that of La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre. When opening the congress, the image of was taken out of her shrine in the village of El Cobre, near the city of Santiago de Cuba at Cuba’s southernmost point, and paraded down the streets of the island in a national procession reaching from south to north. As tens of thousands greeted the Virgin, the image made her way to Havana as the most visible symbol of Catholic national history and Cuban Catholic identity.134 Concluding her visit, the Virgin was escorted by a large crowd from downtown Havana to the airport by foot, with the journey taking four hours.135 As the epitome of the island’s devotional spirituality, the Virgin’s appearance in Havana highlighted the authority of the congress for all Cubans by bringing forth the nationalistic dimension of Marian devotion as an expression of patriotism.
In the congress, the Virgin took on the role of a mother transcending the boundaries of identity, race, and religious belonging, with her presence connecting Cubans through a sense of nationalism. Scholarly work has established her pertinent role in Cuban culture and identity.136 Michelle Gonzalez calls the Virgin “a vital symbol of Cuban religious and national identity.”
According to Gonzalez, she was a shared figure for all Cubans regardless of their affiliation to
130 DM 28.8.1959 Informan al Jefe del Estado sobre los preparativos del Congreso Católico Nacional.
131 DM 28.8.1959 Urbi et Orbi.
132 AHAH AC CCLH Circular No. 32 Octubre de 1959; El Congreso Nacional Catóĺico 24.11.1959.
133 AHAH AC JD LH Circular No. 22 Septiembre de 1959; AHAH AC CCLH Circular No. 32 Octubre de 1959;
AHAH CC La Caridad y La Justicia Social por José I. Lasaga.
134 BNJM CONGRESO CATOLICO; Díaz Cía 28.11.1959 La Virgen de la Caridad Nos Espera; Guerra 2012, 94.
135 BNJM CONGRESO CATOLICO.
136 For the legacy of the Virgin in Cuban historiography, see, for example, Pedraza 2007, 249–250.
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the Catholic Church, “a symbol of what it means to be Cuban.”137 Tweed further argues that through the contrasting narratives on the Virgin that have surfaced in Cuba in different times and social settings, Cubans have in fact negotiated their own identities.138 Historically, the Virgin played an instrumental role in the nation’s process of self-identification and identity-making at the time when Cuba was constructing its independent identity from Spain.139 At the early stage of the revolution, as Schmidt proposes, the Virgin became a shared symbol of la cubanidad, one to which both Catholic and revolutionary Cubans, Cubans of African origin, and Cubans from all social classes were eager to associate.140
In the process of building the revolutionary patria, the episcopate emphasized the Virgin’s sacred participation as the beloved Mother of all Cubans: her intercession in the newly established peace and order and her maternal presence on the island.141 The congress itself was also seen by some as an act of defense for La Virgen de la Caridad: the masses receiving the Virgin pledged loyalty to her in the changing landscapes of patriotism, and they claimed recognition of her role in the nationalist discourse.142 According to Casavantes Bradford, the congress “invoked Cuba’s patron saint as an equally powerful national symbol” as Fidel Castro, by which “Catholic youth thus rejected the idea that Fidel Castro was the sole embodiment of the revolutionary nation.”143 As the mother of the nation and each individual Cuban, the Virgin belonged to the national imaginary of Cuban culture even in the revolution. In this way, the presence of the Virgin’s effigy in the congress portrayed a sense of nationalism and the Church’s participation in the nation-building project, since the revolution claimed as its historical predecessor the history in which the Virgin was inarguably present. Thus, she was a gateway for the Church to the revolution: a living symbol of Cubanness over whom the Church claimed ownership in the revolutionary process.
In rainy conditions, a march of torches,144 led by the flags of Cuba and national Catholic associations and followed by “30 000 torchlights and hundreds of thousands of people,”145 proceeded along the streets of Havana. The marchers were joined by groups representing local ecclesial communities from all over the island, as instructed by the ecclesial dignitaries. At Plaza Civíca, the procession joined the crowd gathered under pouring rain and pledged faithfulness to the Mother of the Nation. The event emphasized the nature of the congress as a proclamation, as a collective expression of Catholic faith. The Eucharist celebration was
137 Gonzalez 2006, 78–79.
138 Tweed 1997, 49.
139 Congreso en defensa de la Caridad 11/1959; Gonzalez 2006, 78–79.
140 Schmidt 2015, 210.
141 AHAH AC CCLH Circular No. 32 Octubre de 1959; La Iglesia Católica Católica y La Nueva Cuba 31.5.1959;
El Congreso Católico Nacional 11/1959; Congreso en defensa de la Caridad 11/1959.
142 AHAH AC JD M América Penichet to Antonio Bechile 31.7.1959; Gómez Tréto 1988, 27; Casavantes Bradford 2014, 74.
143 Casavantes Bradford 2014, 74.
144 Marcha de Antorches, March of Torches, is a well-known Cuban tradition initiated in 1953: organized annually on January 27, most famously in Havana by the Students’ Union of the University of Havana, the march commemorates José Martí as a national hero on his birthday. The march is a symbolic institution, led by the leaders of the country, in which hundreds of thousands of children, youngsters, and adults participate. It is also an act reinforcing the connection between Martí’s ideas and the revolution and renewing the participants’ attachment to the revolutionary process by a publicly expressed manifestation of support. For a discussion on Martí’s role in both Cuban national and Catholic discourse, see De La Torre, 2002, 26–44.
145 BNJM CONGRESO CATOLICO.
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referred to as a symbol of Cuba’s conceding to the guidance of a higher power; affirming the central role of the Eucharist, the congress argued that “Christ is our hope and our strength,"146 implicitly proposing that the revolution, State, and government could not surpass the trust that people placed in divine providence.
By emphasizing its spiritual nature, the congress became inevitably political. The congress was an attempt to demonstrate that the Church belonged to the Cuban social sphere as a relevant actor and that the domain of the Church in the revolutionary reality reached beyond spiritual and religious practices: inscribed in the mission of the Church was also participation in social activism, as religion could not be separated from contemporary social and political contexts.147 According to Lillian Guerra, ecclesial mass mobilization was motivated by political ambitions. As such, the ongoing discourse “revitalized formal participation in religious life as churches became highly politicized sites of autonomous national consciousness.”148 De La Torre concurs with the argument, proposing that Christianity ultimately posed a legitimate, powerful challenge to Castro’s power in the first years of the revolution.149
Mobilization of lay Catholics was crucial for demonstrating the strength of Catholic masses, “for the boom of Catholicism in our fatherland.”150 As was underscored by Havana’s lay leaders, “from the success of this Congress emerges the prestige of Catholicism” in the revolution.151 In most positive estimations, the congress served to mobilize “all forces and sectors of Cuba with a religious fervor,” awakening a sense of shared Cuban nationality through faith.152 This reflected a deeper vision of portraying the unity of Cubans, which the government sought to construct within the narrative framework of the revolution, through the visible unity of Cuban Catholics.153 With its strong focus on nationalistic sentiments, and by also linking itself with the predominant political rites continuously occurring on the island, the National Catholic Congress marked a public, collective expression of moral support for the Church.154 With an estimated one million participants gathering at Plaza Cívica, the Mass celebrated at the site of Castro’s Messianic appearances at public rallies in support of the revolution challenged the revolution’s ability to serve as the sole engine for mobilizing Cubans.155 According to John C. Super, the congress “was a show of strength that made Castro realize that the Church did have the power to stand up against the revolution.”156 At the same time, the congress served to both underscore the unity of Catholics and called them to further testify to such unity through a public performance of faith.157
Further emphasizing the politicized nature of the congress was Fidel Castro himself, who
146 AHAH AC JD M América Penichet to Antonio Bechile 31.7.1959; AHAH AC JD M Visita a la Junta Diocesana de Matanzas 13.9.1959; El Congreso Católico Nacional 11/1959; Circular del Venerable Episcopado 18.11.1959.
147 AHAH CC La Caridad y La Justicia Social por José I. Lasaga.
148 Guerra 2012, 94.
149 De La Torre 2002, 99.
150 AHAH AC JD LH Circular No. 23 Octubre de 1959; AHAH AC CCLH Importante 20.10.1959; AHAH AC CCLH Circular No. 32 Octubre de 1959; AHAH AC JD LH Circular No. 24 Noviembre de 1959.
151 AHAH AC JD LH Circular No. 24 Noviembre de 1959.
152 AHAH AC CCLH Circular Septiembre de 1959; AHAH AC JD LH Circular No. 25 Diciembre de 1959.
153 El Congreso Católico Nacional 11/1959.
154 Schmidt 2015, 204–206.
155 AHAH AC CCLH Circular Septiembre de 1959; Casavantes Bradford 2014, 74.
156 Super 2003.
157 AHAH AC JD PDR Circular No. de 1959; AHAH AC JD M América Penichet to Antonio Bechile 31.7.1959.
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was present at the gathering at Plaza Cívica but left midway through it after criticism of the revolution surfaced. Concurring with the Catholic Congress, Castro urged Cubans to prioritize the defense of the revolution over everything else. In legislation, this also meant the ending of judicial independence and new structures of punishment for traitors. Most dramatic for Cuban Catholics was the new definition of counterrevolutionary guilt based on sympathy, association, and class affiliation. In distinguishing good Cubans from bad Cubans, Castro also appropriated allegories of Jesus Christ by referring to himself as a Messiah for good revolutionaries and a martyr crucified by the traitors of the revolution. This treatment of Christian language spread to other areas of revolutionary rhetoric, and the use of faith-originated metaphors, such as sacrifice, martyrdom, resurrection, and liberation, become a part of the revolution’s rhetorical repertoire.158
The sessions of the congress were strongly marked by the agency of Catholic Action, the most influential lay Catholic organization on the island, with Juventud Católica (Catholic Youth) as the dynamic motor of the event.159 Concurring with the congress, Catholic Action organized national assemblies for all of its groups; through public participation in the meetings, lay Catholics were strongly encouraged to participate in and demonstrate their commitment to the Church.160 This reflected quite well the comprehensive mobilization catalyzed by the polarization of Cuban society. A specific case reinforced by the congress was the social participation of Catholic laywomen: at the end of 1959, the women involved with Catholic Action had begun to study with a new vigor the rights and responsibilities of women engaged in civic participation and the means of achieving more knowledge and education for women through social discourse.161
As a collective act of public demonstration, the congress drew attention and garnered responses from the government as well as revolutionary masses. The congress served as a demonstration of the capability of the Church to mobilize its followers similarly to the manner in which the revolution was mobilizing citizens on a mass scale. Crahan calls this “the emergence of the Catholic Church as the institutional base for the opposition” to the revolution.162 As such, the congress was inevitably interpreted as a demonstration of counterrevolutionary attitudes and opposition to the government. It was the first public act of resistance by the Church; it also led to the first division to take place within the Church. In the eyes of the regime, those who participated in the congress were marked as potential opponents of the revolution; correspondingly, the Church interpreted the absence of Catholics from the watershed event as open support for the revolution.
Particularly political in tone were the speeches delivered at meetings of Catholic Action’s
158 Guerra 2009; Guerra 2012, 72–73, 91, 99–100; Schmidt 2015, 226–228; Benson 2016, 207.
159 AHAH AC CCLH Circular No. 32 Octubre de 1959; Congreso en defensa de la Caridad 11/1959; Después del Congreso Católico Nacional 24.12.1959; Guerra 2012, 94.
160 AHAH AC CCLH Convocatoria 17.8.1959; AHAH AC JN M Consejo Nacional Octubre de 1959; AHAH AC CCLH Importante 20.10.1959; AHAH AC JN M Consejo Nacional Octubre de 1959; AHAH AC JN JF Hilda López and Esther G. Robés to América Penichet 15.11.1959; AHAH AC JN JF Asamblea especializada 27.11.1959; AHAH AC JN M Mujeres de Acción Católica Cubana VII Asemblea Nacional y VI Jornada Nacional de Estudio 27.11.1959; AHAH AC JN JF Asamblea nacional, grupos parroquiales y locales Noviembre 27–28, 1959.
161 AHAH AC JN M Mujeres de Acción Católica Cubana VII Asamblea Nacional y VI Jornada Nacional de Estudio 27.11.1959; BNJM CONGRESO CATOLICO.
162 Crahan 1985.
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sub-organizations and the closing event of the congress. Voices of the clergy and laity alike rose to criticize the revolution before an audience of 10,000 Cubans at Havana’s baseball stadium, de la Tropical, as the closing ceremony was defined as “an act setting principles, clearing doubts, ratifying postures,”163 to which the audience responded with a standing ovation. As the event was also broadcasted nationwide on television and radio, it became a nationally acknowledged declaration of criticism on the state of the revolution.
Among the more audacious speeches were those delivered by politically conscious lay Catholics in sessions addressing the revolution and its future. Drawing from traditional Catholic social doctrine, the speakers emphasized a just distribution of wealth and the right to work and just wages, while fiercely defending individual rights to private property. Merging together Pope Pius XII’s socio-political thought from the 1940s and references to Pope John XXIII’s acknowledgment of the humanity and dignity of workers, in contrast to merely emphasizing the value of work, Catholic voices in Cuba rejected both liberal capitalism and communism as extreme forms of production and polar opposites to human dignity. This discourse placed liberty at the center of Catholic social emphasis: liberty as a God-created state of existence, signifying liberty from slavery by “any other person, any company, any organization, any party, any State.”
164 Further reinforcement of papal teachings was signaled through a broadcast of Pope John XXIII’s message to Cuba over Vatican radio: as the Cuban Church joined the discourse on the nation’s future, it did so with the support and tradition of the global Catholic Church.165
164 Further reinforcement of papal teachings was signaled through a broadcast of Pope John XXIII’s message to Cuba over Vatican radio: as the Cuban Church joined the discourse on the nation’s future, it did so with the support and tradition of the global Catholic Church.165