Cuba to build first church in 55 years

HAVANA Cuba has approved construction of the country's first church in 55 years, Catholics said Monday.

The move is a sign of improving relations between the Vatican and Cuba's communist government, experts said.

Funded by donations from Catholics in Tampa, the church will be built in Sandino, a citrus and coffee-growing town in the far western province of Pinar del Rio.

The church publication Christian Life said it will have space for 200 people.

The construction of a church is a clear demonstration of a new phase, of an improvement, in relations between the church and the state, said Enrique Lopez Oliva, a professor of the history of religions at the University of Havana.

The Catholic Church has had tense relations with what was an officially atheist government since the 1959 revolution. They slowly began to improve with the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1998.

The government revived observance of a Christmas holiday and began allowing Masses or homilies to be broadcast on official media. It dropped a ban on church membership for Communist Party members.

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Cuba to build first church in 55 years