Thanks to the hard work of diplomats, politicians, and the Catholic Church, the relationship between the United States and Cuba has recently warmed up and the two countries established diplomatic relations for the first time in 54 years. After the long decades of Communist rule, Cuba may now be on the path to democratization and the relationship between the Church and state in this country is already showing signs of détente with the first new Catholic church being built since 1959 and a papal visit being scheduled for next month.
However, we know from historical experience that the renewal of Catholic faith in post-Communist societies does not come automatically with democratization and that it is usually much easier to repair destroyed buildings than to rebuild people's faith and trust in the Church.
The experience of post-Communist Eastern Europe shows this painfully well. Although in some countries previously ruled by a Communist government (such as Poland and Croatia) the Catholic Church is doing extremely well, these countries are the exception, not the rule. Most countries affected by Communism rank among the most atheistic societies in the world. Among the world's 10 least religious countries with even just occasional church attendance below 15 percent (according to Gallup re-search), more than half are in post-Communist Europe, including Estonia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia. Estonia and the Czech Republic rank as the world's most atheistic countries, where the percentages of people, who report they believe in God, is only 18 and 16 percent respectively (Eurobarometer Poll, 2010).
These statistics hold even after two decades of Church renewal efforts and multiple papal visits in many of these countries. Communism can destroy faith and penetrate society like no other totalitarian regime. Gradually religious symbols, holidays and celebrations are replaced with Communist ones, the school system is completely run by the government, and children are indoctrinated in atheism. History is reinterpreted and rewritten in such a way that the Catholic Church is portrayed as villainous, and any kind of spirituality is seen in a negative light.
By the time one or more generations have passed, people not only get disconnected from their spiritual heritage, but they also lack the most basic religious education.
Most countries in Eastern Europe have been free from Communism and under some form of democratic government for more than 20 years. There are no longer police agents inside and at the entrance of church buildings to check the IDs of anyone who would dare to kneel down in prayer in defiance of the official ideology. Bibles, religious articles and prayer cards are no longer banned from print and distribution. Public playing of Christian songs as well as celebrations of Easter and Christmas are no longer suppressed by the state, and priests are allowed to talk to children and young people without the threat of being permanently removed from ministry. However, the path towards Christianity is hard to find for societies that have experienced decades of Communist and atheist propaganda – where many people, especially the young, are not aware of the basic tenets of the Gospel, and where churches have been transformed into museums. People in this situation need active help to find their way back to Christianity. There is a great need for missionaries who would, through good works and example, help restore the faith of the peoples who once used to be the pillars of Christian Europe.
The case of Cuba shares many similar characteristics. A country that used to be more than 90 percent Catholic has been systematically de-christianized since the Communist revolution of 1959. Initially, Christian believers were not admitted into the Communist party, necessary for any career advancement. In the early 1990s the government relaxed that rule, admitting some Christians into the party and adjusting its constitution to prohibit religious discrimination, but the practice of one's faith remained discouraged.
Despite the fact that the country was already visited by St. John Paul II in 1998 and Pope Benedict XVI in 2012, Cuba today remains the least religious country in all of Latin America, with the lowest number of priests as a percentage of the population. Even though this country enjoys more religious freedom than other Communist countries, such as Vietnam or China, less than 6 percent of Cubans attend Mass regularly (according to the Church's own statistics).
Most of post-Communist Europe is still in great need of evangelization. Moreover, with the easing of the relations between the U.S. and Cuba, there is a now opening a new opportunity to help out a country, which was also devastated by this repressive regime, and which is the closest to our shores.
Dr. Kamila Valenta is a member of St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte and a part-time professor at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, where she teaches ethnic conflict.