In interviews at three churches in the capital, parishioners complained \u201d\u201d openly, and a lot \u201d\u201d about the economy and voiced a desire to see change come to the island. But regarding the treatment of Catholics, they were content.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in a state of respect now. We are a normal part of life. It no longer matters if you are Catholic,\u201d\u009d said Susana Sanchez, 46, who recalled that \u201cin the first years of the revolution, my generation, the young moved away from the church, but they have been coming back. It\u2019s a space to grow spiritually, to fill a need.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Santiago Martinez, one of three priests serving the San Juan Bosco church nearby, said that even members of the all-powerful Communist Party attend Mass, and so do government bureaucrats, who in a previous generation would have been branded counterrevolutionaries for bowing their heads at the altar.<\/p>\n