HAVANA — For a brutal revolutionary who has had no problem ordering executions on a whim, Fidel Castro seems to have a soft spot in his heart for that “opiate of the masses,” organized religion, especially Catholicism.
Undoubtedly, his willingness — even occasional eagerness — to fraternize with priests on the political left and his pious attitude while in the presence of Pope John Paul II can be traced to his childhood and youth: Castro’s mother was a Rosary-reciting, prayerful Catholic, and he attended Catholic primary school and high schools, including the prestigious Jesuit preparatory school Belen College in Havana.
Never mind that he closed these schools when he took power; Fidel Castro soaked up enough Catholic sensibility that it’s a world in which he seems to function comfortably.
In 1985, Fidel gave a long series of interviews to an activist Marxist Brazilian priest known as Frei Betto. Castro repeatedly insists that Christianity and his revolutionary goals, namely full socialism, are compatible.
Published around the world as Fidel and Religion, the book demonstrates Castro’s ambiguous stance toward the Church.
On the one hand, he applauds the Jesuits who “valued character, rectitude, honesty, courage and the ability to make sacrifices. …They contributed to my development and influenced my sense of justice.” Fidel has remained close to one of his teachers from Belen, Father Amando Llorente.
Father Llorente left Cuba, resettled in Miami and died in April. He told the Register by phone before he died that he continued to have a “relationship with Fidel until March 2010.”
On the other hand, Castro insists that most Cuban clerics were allied with the wealthy class and “imperialism,” which is why they were run out of Cuba when he took power.
To Frei Betto, Castro admitted admiration for the Church: “It’s true that the rock of St. Peter, on which the Catholic Church was built, is solid and lasting. Throughout history, that institution has demonstrated its experience, its wisdom and its capacity to adapt to reality.”
Castro’s younger brother, Raul, now president of Cuba, also attended Belen College, , but he was a less accomplished student than Fidel and did not graduate from there.
Yet Raul seems to have more genuine dialogue with current Church leaders. It was Raul who negotiated in May of this year with Cardinal Jaime Ortega of Havana, first gave permission for the Ladies in White to march each week on behalf of their jailed husbands, and then in June allowed the release of these men and their families to Spain.
Asked about his own beliefs, Raul once said, “I haven’t stayed in the Church, but I’ve kept the principles of Christ. I don’t renounce those principles. They give me the hope of salvation, and the revolution carries them out.”
Some see such statements as evidence of Raul’s torn conscience — and hope he will continue this search for salvation.
As The New York Times wrote when Raul assumed power, “Until recently, few people had imagined that Raul Castro could be seen as Cuba’s best hope for reform. Still fewer would have imagined that the U.S. would be secretly hoping he succeeds.”
His actions, to date, confirm this logic.
Victor Gaetan writes from Washington.
Tomorrow: A final look at a changing Cuba.
Tim Drake: Register Radio: The Pope in Cuba and HHS Slogans
Edward Pentin: Pope's Homilies and Addresses in Cuba - Full Texts
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Just for the sake of correction, “Frei” Betto is a Dominican layman and has never been ordained a priest (it’s not even clear to me that he may use the title of friar in that fashion). See the very beginning of this interview with him, whose introductory question says:
I heard so many terrible story about Fidel… now he is getting old, I even saw him falling, is it possible that he realise that as human he will die one day, well…. God have eternity.
I think it is a very good thing to hear of repentant souls in thier old age, including Fidel and Raul Castro! All saints should rejoice at such news. In Christ, Kathleen
Even I cringed when he fell. He’s lucky he didn’t break his neck, for Pete’s sake!
He may have been a lousy leader, but faults and all at least he won’t end up like Saddam Hussein…which is a good thing.
I try to find something nice about everybody, and yeah I do see some good in him…maybe this is it.
Okay, it’s bad he’s a communist running a communist country (and don’t think Raul doesn’t seek advice from Fidel), but compared to Al Quida terrorists like Bin Laden, I’ll take Communist Cuba any day, thank you very much. But that’s just my opinion.
People, we should pray for his soul. I know I will.
I am sorry, but what liberal crap is this all about? What a wishy washy article. First of all, you call Father Llorente Amando, not Armando, which may just be a typo. And then you put in quotations that “he had a relationship with him since March 2010”, and they said Fr. Llorente told them this by phone. My parents were married by Fr. Llorente and went to his funeral. He’s now making phone calls from beyond? Looks like pure fabrication to me, I would like to hear a recording of this call. This article reeks of “poor little old Fidel, may he repent in time since he was kind-of friendly to the church”. Where is the accurate telling of all the priests, religious and Catholics he had executed, imprisoned or exiled? And to insinuate that Fr. Llorente had “a relationship” with him, thus tainting his memory and making Fidel look like he always had a soft spot for the church. I still remember the many times Fr. Llorente spoke about how crazy and possessed by the devil Fidel was since his days at Belen, which by the way is a high school not a college (again suggesting that this is a total opinion, not fact based article). We are not supposed to judge, but I hope Fidel and Raul start rotting in hell soon.
I find issue with large portions of this story, and have to question it’s truthfulness. I have interviewed Father Armando Llorente at great length, you can read about it in my book, “Cuban Exiles On the Trade Embargo,” MacFarland Publishers, 2008.
In addition, I have known Father Llorente all of my life. He celebrated my parent’s wedding over 50 years ago, I was an altar boy for him as a child, and my parents have remained very close to him for all these years. We spoke very frankly about Castro and his relationship with him. There was never a relationship over the years as your article implies.
Unfortunately, Father Llorente is dead, providing an opportunity for the author to quote him in a manner that cannot be fact checked . Very convenient.
This is a seriously flawed article that borders on fabrication. Not only did the author fail, but the editors did as well for failing to source check. I encourage you to retract it quickly. I taped my interviews with Father Llorente. I still have those tapes and so can back up my interviews. Can you do the same?
I would like to respond to Pablo Gonzalez and Ed Gonzalez.
First, Father Amando Llorente is the correct name as stated in the story and confirmed by obituaries , ie: http://thefloridacatholic.org/iv/fisher_of_men_dies_at_91 NCR d.id not use the name “Armando. “Although, he was also referred to as “Armando” in many American sources.
Second, the article makes reference to Belen College (Colegio de Belen in Spanish), but the article, in the second paragraph, also makes it clear that Belen was indeed a high school. As in the United States, there are several high schools run by Catholic orders which are named “colleges” such as St John’s College High School and Gonzaga College High School in Washington, DC.
Third, most important, I talked to Father Llorente on April 6, 2010, obviously before he died. I called him to request an interview, in person, for May. He was generous (happy to meet), soft-spoken and certainly lucid. He told me that he prayed constantly for Cuba, and that he had a relationship with Fidel until March. I don’t know more details because I intended to probe this in person. Perhaps the relationship meant monthly novenas. Please note, I got Father Llorente’s phone number in Havana from a Jesuit priest who told me Father Llorente had an “ongoing relationship” with Fidel, although Father Llorente had not been to the island himself since the 1990s.
Pablo Gonzales is right that the Castros decimated the Catholic Church in Cuba. Priests were killed. The first cardinal of Cuba, Cardinal Manuel Arteaga named in 1946 by Pope Piux XII, hid himself in the Argentinian Embassy, fearing that he would be murdered by the brutal revolutionaries. Most priests were chased off the island. Churches were closed. Believers were arrested and harassed. The commentator is, perhaps, preoccupied, like many Catholics in good faith, with the serious debate that continues to take place within the Church (as in Cuba today) whether the approach to fighting the Antichrist is by uncompromised resistance or through Ostpolitik-negotiations with the enemy: a policy pursued for decades by the Vatican during the Communist period in Europe. Of course, negotiation cannot violate Christian principles.
I hope Pablo and Ed will read the other articles I filed on Cuba for the Register, including the three-part interview with Oswaldo Paya on July 13, 14, and 15. I look forward to reading Ed’s book with interest.
In Faith,
Victor Gaetan
Victor,
Thank you for your clarifications. I look forward to exploring your other articles as well.
Warmly,
Ed Gonzalez
Mr Gaetan,
Thank you for your clarifications, and yes, it is Amando, not Armando. I read it incorrectly and wrote it backwards. Like Ed, I also look forward to reading your articles. I will ask you this though: If a priest of Fr. Llorente’s caliber even somewhat implies he had a relationship with Fidel, why not ask to clarify right then and there? Additionally, you mention in your comment that “Perhaps the relationship meant monthly novenas”, yet you do not mention anything near that in your article. I believe you purposely wanted readers to infer that it might be a relationship such as the majority of us understand a relationship to be. The tone of your article is a repentant one, with quotes such as Raul’s ”I’ve kept the principles of Christ. I don’t renounce those principles. They give me the hope of salvation, and the revolution carries them out”. Does the release of a few prisoners really resemble a murderous revolution giving the hope of salvation? What you are doing is furthering the bohemian sympathy many Americans have for Fidel and Che (by the way, interesting your selection of a picture of Che as the only one attached to the article, a church might have been more fitting) . Just look at the comments to your article, specifically LRoy who would take “communist Cuba to Bin Laden any day”, when Fidel executed hundreds of thousands of people just for disagreeing with him.
You also mention the fight against the Antichrist vs. negotiating against communism in Europe. Communism in Cuba, which in reality is Castroism, has run almost a decade longer than communism did in Europe, the Cuban Catholic church has nowhere near the roots the European church did when battling communism, and with the transition to Raul, it looks as if it will be many more years before true freedom exists on the island. “Ostpolitik-negotiations with the enemy”, just like the embargo, will never work there.
Regardless of what you have written in other articles, including a focus on Paya, you have done a disservice to Fr. Llorente and left much for people to assume incorrectly. As to why, only you know. Lastly, just 2 minor corrections: your translation of Colegio to college by justifying it with a comparison to Gonzaga College High School is incorrect and ethnocentric. I hope in the future your articles on Cuba have deeper research and clarifications, I would suggest starting with Ed’s book.
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