Papal Overtures in a Cuban Key

This book present a multi-disciplinary study of Pope John Paul II's visit to Cuba in 1998. The essays represent several disciplines: sociology, anthropology, political science, religious studies and theology. Authors agree on several major points: one, that the visit benefited both church and state; two, the Pope urged the Cubanization of Cuban Catholicism; and three, though the rivalries for civic space between the religious groups and the state still existed, the have now entered a new stage of development. The state is criticized for continued religious discrimination and the Pope for not promoting ecumenism more vigorously.