In January 1962, the papers wrote that the “maximum leader” had been excommunicated by the Holy See and since then everyone has the attributed the decision to John XXIII who knew nothing about it.
In about a month’s time, Benedict XVI will embark on his visit to Mexico and Cuba, returning to the Caribbean island 14 years after John Paul II’s historic visit.
But the President is no longer Fidel Castro, it is his brother Raul and he is making every effort to make it possible for Fidel to meet the Pope when he visits their residence, if his health permits it.
The potential encounter between the Pope and the “maximum leader” has revived rumours that Fidel might approach the Catholic faith once again.
The by now former President of Cuba does after all have a Jesuit education.
There is also much talk about the excommunication bestowed on him by John XXIII, who is now a Blessed pope.
What has sparked these rumours, is the excommunication decree for communists, published by Pius XII in 1949 and renewed in 1959 by Pope Roncalli.
Indeed, the news regarding the excommunication decreed by the “good Pope” against Fidel and dated 3 January 1962, can be found practically all over the web. What happened that day?
The first man to mention excommunication was Dino Staffa who was working as Secretary of the Congregation for Seminaries at the time, a renowned scholar of canonical law. Paul VI allegedly promoted him to the Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura and then made him a cardinal in 1967.
Newspapers presented him as a “high-ranking prelate” of the Secretariat of State, even though he did not in fact hold any position in said office.
What is more, Mgr. Staffa’s reasons were not related to communism, but to violence against bishops.
The prelate, an expert in canonical law, essentially said that Castro should consider himself excommunicated by virtue of the Code of Canonical Law, which automatically prescribes this very serious punishment to those who are violent against bishops or who collaborate to carry out such acts.
The excommunication therefore boiled down to the opinion of a scholar of canonical law, not to an excommunication decreed at that moment.
So why then did Staffa say what he said and on that exact day?
Archbishop Loris Capovilla, who was John XXIII’s personal secretary at the time, was baffled by the issue of Fidel’s excommunication and said he had no knowledge of it. He also pointed out that in the case of the Chinese bishops who were ordained without a mandate from Rome, the Pope merely addressed them in one of his speeches, reminding them of the laws currently in place. He made no mention of excommunication.”
But the time coincidence cannot be overlooked. It was on those very days back in January 1962 that Pope Roncalli had replied to a message from the Cuban President, Dorticós Torrado, in which he expressed “sincere wishes of Christian prosperity for the beloved people of Cuba”.
Furthermore, it had been decided that in the days that followed, the new ambassador to Cuba, Amado Blanco y Fernandez, was going to present his letters of credence to the Pope, after the Cuban embassy to the Holy See had been left in the hands of a temporary chargé d’affaires, for one year.
The months prior to this, Bishop Eduardo Roza Masvidal and 135 priests had been expelled from Cuba.
In his declaration, Archbishop Staffa made reference to this and to various other problems that existed with regard to the Cuban Catholic Church. One idea that must not be ruled out given that this declaration coincided with John XXIII’s message to the Cuban President, is that an attempt had been made to balance the effect of Pope Roncalli’s words – which were considered too expansive –which acted as a public reminder of what canonical law had in store for those who acted in a certain way against the Catholic hierarchy.
There was certainly pressure for the Pope to make a public declaration announcing the “maximum leader’s” excommunication.
But Roncalli did not want to consent to this so as not to add fuel to the fire and worsen relations between the Cuban Church and the Castro government.
Fidel did not therefore receive an ad personam excommunication and neither did John XXIII take any decisions to this effect.
The line of action taken by the Secretariat of State involved the avoidance of any rifts and the attempt to try to ensure priests and missionaries stayed on the island.
At the time, the Secretariat of State was led by the Cardinal Domenico Tardini who was its head when the Cuban revolution broke out, and then by Cardinal Amleto Cicognati who took charge in January 1962. This does not mean that the Holy See and the Pope himself were not aware of and well informed about the difficulties the Cuban Church was facing.
On 13 April 1962, after receiving Mgr. Cesare Zacchi (whom Paul VI would eventually promote to the episcopate, appointing him as Nunzio to Havana, John XXIII wrote in his diary: “Dear Mr. Zacchi, auditor of the Nunciature in Cuba, where multae lacrimae rerum.”