PLACETAS, Cuba — In Cuba, where communism and religion live uneasily side by side, there is a city where it is no longer strange to see a priest walk down the street in a white cassock followed by enthusiastic greetings of “Good day, Father!”
A small order of Catholic clergy have become a beloved and indispensable part of the community in Placetas, offering survival essentials to its economically devastated population of about 40,000 souls.
The priests have become, in part, a surrogate for the government, which in Cuba has political control over just about every aspect of life — though in practice it cannot alwaysdeliver where it is needed most.
From Pl…
Keep on reading: Catholic Church gains foothold in communist Cuba