The Roman Catholic Church in Cuba is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome.
Catholics is historically the religious majority since its colonization. However, Communist Cuba is no exception for the ideological clash between Communism and Roman Catholicism that was common in communist countries. Since Fidel Castro's winning in 1959, he has imposed restrictions on religious activities such as the Christmas celebration, and in 1962 barred personels of the church from joining the much previledged Party - following a communism tradition. [1]Somehow the efforts were not as successful as in traditionally secularism communist countries such as China. Church member is still able to become a Party member as long as she remains her faith a secret.
When the Cold War ended, such restrictions were lifted and the atheism guideling in Cuban Constitution has been removed, and Catholics can openly join the Party in 1990.
In 1998, pope John Paul II made his official visit to Cuba and met the then-Cuban leader Fidel Castro in person, whom honored him in quite the manner.
The Roman Catholic Church body in Cuba is governed by the Cuban Bishops Conference. There are over five million Catholics - around 45% of the total population. The country is divided into eleven dioceses including three archdioceses.
Tasks of the church has been more politically oriented than sociallly oriented, comparing those in market countries, the Church claims to have been in discuss with the government on issues like political prisoner and free market.
Comparing to China and potentially Vietnam, the Catholics in Cuba overally enjoyed a quite easy condition and the legacy of catholicism has never been rooted completely.
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