REFLECTIONS OF THE HISTORIC TRIP TO CUBA, THE RT. REV. SCOTT B. HAYASHI

Transcription

1 REFLECTIONS OF THE HISTORIC TRIP TO CUBA, THE RT. REV. SCOTT B. HAYASHI PART THREE - THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN CUBA (B) After the revolution in 1959 religion was suppressed in Cuba. During the period directly before and following the revolution the vast majority of Catholic and Protestant clergy left the country. With their Marxist ideology the state promoted atheism. Fidel Castro was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church because of his suppression of the Roman Catholic Church in Cuba. While atheism was promoted this did not mean that a person was prevented from belief or had to renounce his or her faith. Persecution of religious people was present, however, and many parents did not bring their children up in the their religious traditions because of the difficulty they believed their children would experience because of it. Religious people were not allowed to join the Communist Party. The suppression of religion and religious institutions eased. A new article was added to the constitution in 1992 that forbade discrimination on the basis of religious belief. However, Cuba itself is now a mostly secular society with only a tiny minority of the population attending church.

2 Now then, while in Cuba we visited Holy Trinity Cathedral in Havana, The Seminario Evangelico de Teologia in Matanzas, Santa Maria Magdalena in Favorito and Santa Maria Virgen in Itabo. Given the country's history all church's face a great uphill climb to their work of evangelism. The spiritual life of the people of Cuba is undeveloped. Congregations are poor and have very little means of support. Bishop Griselda, having been (and continues being) a rector in Cuba knows first hand the challenges of her diocese. The diocese itself has an older generation and a younger generation. The younger generation is open for change and desires new approaches that do not necessarily follow in the footsteps of the older generation. In the recent synod vote to rejoin the Episcopal Church we were told that the vote pretty much split along generational lines. The younger people were in favor or rejoining. Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Havana Bishop Griselda knows that there is not a large amount of money she can expect to come from the members of the forty-four congregations of the diocese. (In Cuba, the church buildings are called temples not churches. So you have the designation of congregaciones for the membership and temples for the buildings. They have embarked upon a three year Missionary Development Program that is receiving support of the Anglican Church in Canada's Primate World Relief and Development Fund and from Episcopal Relief and Development. The Seminario Evangelico de Teologica, Matanzas (above) The Seminario Evangelico de Teologica, (left) Bishops walking the grounds of the Seminary

3 Bishop Griselda and members of Santa Magdalena of Favorito, Cuba give a presentation about their work. Bishop Griselda believes in and knows intimately the hard working, creative, and committed nature of the Cuban people. She views this as the greatest resource that the Episcopal Church of Cuba has. She is very much aware that money is not the answer. Charity can be toxic. She knows this and does not want the Cuban church to become dependent and to lose the essential nature of the Cuban Episcopalians. She looks at what is possible. What small changes can be made. What The undeveloped section of the land next to Santa small victories can be achieved. Magdalena shows what the church members had to work with Inspiring the people with her in developing their house churches. vision of what she sees in the people and what can be done amazing things are happening. She is seen by her people as their spiritual leader. She is the right person at the right time and I give grateful thanks to God for her and her work.

4 The Mission Development Program seeks to train people in leadership, lay and ordained, for projects that address real life problems. This includes Christian Education, biblical-theological training and working with different ecclesiastical and non-ecclesiastical groups. The work takes place in vulnerable places. It supports sustainable food production, rational use of natural resources, alternative sources of energy, ecological animal-raising and eco-friendly technology to protect God's creation. (My heart sings!) Ambitious? You bet! But the work. Oh, the work we saw. Traveling out of Havana into the country we went to Favorito to see Sana Maria Magdalena and in Itabo, Santa Maria Virgen. Favarito and Itabo are not what your or I would call developed. Our guide (Manny) told us that they are maiily farming communities. The houses we saw along the way were tiny structures, run down to my eye. Manny told us that these were not impoverished people. To us they looked so. (Every person in Cuba receives, at no cost to them, their food staples and medical care. The medical care in Cuba is very good. Better and much more easily accessible than what you will find in the United States, unless, of course, you have first rate insurance and enough money to pay for it. Also, even though the houses appear dilapidated and the people poor that does not translate into illiterate. Cuba boasts a 99% literacy rate.) The congregation in Favorito is housed in a small temple. (Pictures below.) From the outside it does not look like much. Entering it was a surprise. It was pristine. It was not always this way. Not long ago a group from a small Episcopal Church in Wyoming visited it. One person was moved to tears when she saw it. The roof was falling in, the place was a wreck. She vowed to do something about. Some time later they returned to work to rehabilitate the structure. A member of the church knows construction and led the work.

5 They now have a very nice building, a garden, and soon a bio-fuel set up and a water purification system that will provide clean water for three thousand people. Imagine that! All for a few thousand dollars, hard work and belief. This one small congregation will very soon be a source of clean water for three thousand people - real world problems addressed by real people of faith. Bishop Griselda told us that in this work that the people grew in their faith and belief in God. Their spiritual lives were enhanced because they saw what God could do through them to help the people of their community. The Front of Santa Magdalena, Favorito as seen from the street. In Itabo, which is a poor community, we visited Santa Maria Virgen. This is the congregation that Bishop Griselda served (and continues to be the rector of) when she was appointed to be the bishop coadjutor. Again, no financial resources to speak of. Very few people and a community that after years of being a state supported atheist society (which changed in 1992 to being called a secular society). What they had was one person who said that he thought that he could plant a garden. So Bishop Griselda said to do it. He planted a garden. A neighbor then said that he would give the congregation a hectare (2.47 acres) of his property he had two hectares. (They think he will given them the other hectare.) They also have a clean water supply for the people of Itabo and an organic garden with a pit that will be a bio-fuel producing engine. They raise pigs and the crops. With nothing to begin with except a person who said that he thought he could plant a garden and the belief that it could help to Santa Maria Virgen, Itabo, Cuba people of Itabo the project has blossomed. That man is in the ordination process now. When ordained he will be the priest of Santa Maria Virgen in Itabo.

6 The garden and interior of Santa Maria Virgin in Itabo. Bishop Griselda is still the Rector.