Source: The Herald
Wire Service: AP
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/breaking_news/15208512.htm
On August 5, 2006 the Associated Press reported, "Cubans are drawing on their rich spiritual traditions, calling out to the African gods of Santeria, the saints of Roman Catholicism and to the Christian God of Protestant faiths in prayers for ailing leader Fidel Castro's health and continued peace on their island. Profoundly spiritual, many Cubans never put aside their religious beliefs, even during the three decades the Communist government was officially atheist and religious believers of all kinds were viewed with suspicion. So when Castro announced Monday night he had undergone intestinal surgery for sustained bleeding and was temporarily ceding power to his younger brother Raul, many Cubans turned to their faiths for comfort and hope. 'All those who have something to do with the spiritual life should ask for the health of people, in this case of the Comandante Fidel Castro,' said Alfredo Trujillo Pena, a babalawo, or priest of Santeria, a syncretic faith blending African and Roman Catholic traditions. Trujillo said after learning of Castro's ailment he gathered with a dozen other babalawos to consult the Santeria gods. Orula, the deity of prediction, 'said that this will be transitory,' and Castro will survive his current illness, he said. At the Yoruba Cultural Association of Cuba, which represents 3,700 babalawos, president Antonio Castaneda declined to provide details of ceremonies being held, 'but many (rituals) are being held for the benefit of the country and many people have called us worried about the comandante.' Castro also has been remembered in prayers at Cuba's Roman Catholic and Protestant churches. 'As followers of Jesus of Nazareth, we will maintain our personal and community prayers for the rapid reestablishment of our president's health,' the Rev. Raul Suarez, a Baptist minister a parliament deputy, said in a communique distributed to international media. Meanwhile, Cuba's Roman Catholic Church exhorted its parishioners to pray for Castro's health and ask God to 'illuminate' his brother Defense Minister Raul Castro during his provisional leadership of the nation."