Santería and the Quest for a Postcolonial Identity in Post-Revolutionary Cuban Cinema

Abstract

“African Spirit Worship Has Powerful Hold on Cubans: Catholics Embrace Santería,”¹ reads one of the many headlines during the visit of Pope John Paul II to the island in January 1998. During that time around 300,000 people gathered in Havana’s Plaza of the Revolution to greet the pope. It was a “history-making,” five-day visit, an article in The Christian Century pointed out, as Fidel Castro himself welcomed the Roman Catholic leader.² During his talks, the pope spoke out for greater religious freedom within Cuba, meanwhile condemning the long-lasting U.S. economic embargo against Cuba. Everyone had big hopes for what this visit could mean for the island, since social, political, and religious issues were brought forth. Nonetheless, when a group of Santería babalawos requested a special meeting with John Paul II they were denied by the Cuban Catholic leaders, the same leaders that stood alongside the pope asking for greater religious freedom. So, even with greater freedoms to practice religion, there yet remains a hierarchy of those religions both within the political government and within the religious structures.