Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1907-04-16
RELIGIOUS TOLERATION NOW.
CUBA NOW HAS PROTESTANT
CHURCHES.
The Maine Victims Denied Protestant
Burial Seryice-0ld Churches Re-
yoItingly Rich
STREET RELIGIOUS PR0cES-
SIONS NO MORE.


| tant Churches in Cuba where services
are held in English. This was not al
| ways So. Under Spanish rule the
| Roman Catholic Church was the estab-
| Hshed church OF Cuba and public SER
| vices in any other church were pro-
| hibited.
Unlike Maryland, there was no re-
| lisious federation in Cuba, and this
matter was taken SO far that 10 induce
imm igration the Spanish Governor is
sued a sircular in which it vas set
forth that "no others but Roman Cath
olies can be inhabitants of the Island"
| Several attempts were made by the
British government for permission to
build a Protestant chapel for the wor-
ship of Great Britain's subjects living
i'm Havana, but all efforts were futile.
The Protestant Bible was intcrdicted
| at the Custom House.
II Is we'll known. and at that time
| a most talked about fact that in 1898,
so recent MS that date, just nine years
ago, when the victims of the Maine
were buried, the funeral was held by
| the city authorities in the Governors
| Palace, Captain Sigsbce requested of
| the Bishop of Havana the privilege of
reading the Protestant burial service
| over the American dead, but the re-
quest was firmly yet politely declined,
| the Catholic Bishop expressing regret
| that he was unable to comply with it.
CAPTAIN Sigsbee afterward said that
all he could do was TO read the SER
vice. a part of 1t at a time, as oppor.
tunity afforded, chiefly in the carriage
| on the way to the cemetery and af-
| terward i'm my room mt the hotel. -
The Spanish American war changed
many things i'm Cuba, and not the
least among the changes was religious
federation, and now there are various
| Protestant denominations in Havana.
Among the Protestant churches here
are the Holy Trinity Episcopal Chapel,
| the Methodist church, the Presbyterian
mission, the Baptist temple, the
Church OF Christ and Church OF Christ
mission. There is a Young Mems
Christian Association, which is doing
good work and has large member
ship.
In the early days the religious orders
| in Cuba were immensely rich. They
possessed large sugar plantations,
coffee estates and besides these, which
| had been bequeathed TO them by the
faithful, the churches drew vast reve-
nues from lands which were mortgaged
4 III lltlI lNNNls 4n1 IlNi1lts III AnOhN
| DAYS, declared the Cuban churches
'revoltingly rich. Long ago the
| vast estates Of monks were confiscated
bv the state and some of the monas-
teries were converted into government
| storehouses In Cuba the church fes-
tivals are many and elaborate and are
usually observed with much pomp
and gorgeousness. 1t is said there
| were once as many rs 525 festivals in
| n single year held in the places of
/ worship here that at that time num-
/ bored but twenty-nine. These did
| not include the Masses, Ave Marias,
| vespers and sermons. We were told
| tsat in former times in Cuba the func-
/ tions of the church were unrivaled in
pomp and solemnity by any in Eu-
/ rope, and il is said that more wax was
| then consumed in the candles for the
/ churches in Havana in one month than
/ i'm other cities for whole year.
The church calendar was n curiosity
/ and looked like n waffle iron or a flut-
/ ing machine. Every feast day was
i marked in the calendar as n half cross
| day to be observed with special relig-
ious services, and there were whole
| cross days on which there was an en-
| tire suspension of business. This is a
| forcible illustration of the country of
| tmenana" of which we have spoken
| in previous letter the country of
tomorrow, bye-and-bye. In no other
country of the world could such an un-
business like system have prevailed,
the system or custom of having every
day, or part of every day, or every
other day as n feast day or holiday
the custom of putting off until. tomor-
row business that ought to be attended
to today. It was once ehronicled in
the report of an American in Cuba
| who could not land his goods on a
certain day. This is st. Joseph S
Day, the patron saint of the collector
| of the port, SO the collector refuses
any goods TO be landed on this day
This will give you an ~idea of how
things were regulated at that time.
In other letters we have told OF
the queer methods of observing tbs
first four Sundays in Lent by fiestas
or typical Mardi Gras on The
Prado and around the Malecon. Thi,
is sill in vogue, but some of tn,
old customs of observing Holy Weel
have become obsolete. Once the Ger
emonies were elaborate and long re
ligious professions filled the streets
bearing the Holy Sepulchle, effigiel
of Christ and the Virgin and images
of the saints which were carried il
state by jealous devotees of tn,
church. ON Good Friday it was th,
custom to bear through the streets
the image of the crucified Saviou
lying upon a cloth of gold. Soldier
with arms reversed marched by the
side and bands were in the procession
playing doleful tunes. As the pro
cession passed the crowds barred thei
heads. These customs were pictur
esque and interesting, but not in keep
ing with this advanced age. Th
Cuban congress in 1904 discussed thii
matter and passed law prohibitin,
religious professions in the streets.
The ecclesiastical government d
Cuba consists of the Archbishopric o
Santiago and the Bishopric of Havana
Havana was given another Bishol
during our visit to this city, and tn,
services attendant upon the ordina
tion of the new Bishop were impres
sive and imposing.
Mtddu Rerfouc