TIM JOHNSON
             Herald Staff Writer

             HAVANA -- Straight talk is in short supply in Cuba. That may be why handbills
             with candid commentary about daily life fly out of Roman Catholic parishes every
             Sunday.

             ``They go like hot cakes,'' said Enrique Lopez Oliva, a professor of the history of
             religion at the University of Havana.

             Since Pope John Paul II made a historic five-day trip to the Communist-ruled
             island a year ago, numerous changes have occurred within the Catholic Church
             and in Cuban society.

             Christmas is now a national holiday. The number of priests has grown slightly.
             Catholics feel less inhibited about proclaiming their faith. And church-state
             relations are more relaxed.

             But one of the most notable evolutions may be the candor used by the Cuban
             Catholic Church to address its own flock. A series of church publications, starting
             with the 85,000 copies of the pamphlet Christian Life handed out each Sunday,
             have become far stronger voices.

             ``They seem to be tackling controversial issues with a degree of tolerance
             unimaginable two, three or four years ago,'' said Shawn T. Malone, associate
             director of the Caribbean Project at Georgetown University, who is visiting
             Havana.

             This month alone, Christian Life has broached social and political issues like
             soaring crime, the red tape entangling foreign donations to the church, and dismal
             wages for workers.

             ``There is no way one can live on a salary,'' a Jan. 10 commentary noted.

             Result of visit

             The Pope's visit appeared to help Catholic and Protestant churches alike,
             stimulating interest and further lifting the Marxist taboo against religion. Anecdotal
             evidence suggests that evangelical Protestant churches may be growing faster. But
             the Catholic Church maintains more autonomy, experts say, positioning itself as a
             counterforce to the overwhelming weight of President Fidel Castro's regime.

             During his dramatic visit, the Polish-born Pope condemned the U.S. ban on trade
             with Cuba and praised government health and education programs, while issuing a
             series of appeals to Castro that have gone unheeded. The pontiff sought
             permission to reopen Catholic schools, build more churches and obtain access to
             state-run media for church messages, all to no avail.

             But experts say the pontiff's visit led to small improvements in church-state
             relations. Among the key occurrences:

               In December, the Castro government agreed to let 19 more priests and 21 more
             religious workers settle in Cuba, including a Cuban-born priest living in South
             Florida.

               Castro declared Christmas a national holiday, reviving a public religious
             celebration for the first time in his 40 years of Communist rule.

               Cardinal Jaime Ortega was permitted a 20-minute radio address in Havana on
             Christmas Day. A bishop from Cienfuegos was also heard on the state-run radio.

               In mid-February, 40 leaders of Catholic bishops' councils will gather in Cuba,
             the first time the Inter-American Bishops meeting has been allowed on the island.

               The Communist Party chief for religious affairs, Caridad Diego, was promoted
             to the 31-member Council of State, Cuba's highest political body, in apparent
             recognition for her help in organizing the papal trip.

             ``This is a signal that the dialogue between church and state will continue at the
             highest level,'' said Lopez, the religion professor.

             Less fear to speak out

             Orlando Marquez, spokesman for the Conference of Bishops, noted that contacts
             are ``more fluid between the government and the church'' since the Pope's visit. In
             the broadest sense, he said, Catholics feel ``less fear to express their faith'' in
             public.

             Still, he noted, some people attempt to portray the church hierarchy -- especially
             the Vatican -- as somewhat disgruntled that greater openness hasn't resulted from
             the papal visit.

             ``There are people who say the church is discontented with what has been
             achieved in the past year,'' he said. ``But the church doesn't aspire to a rapid pace
             of change, just the gradual improvement of relations with the state.''

             He described 1998 as ``a positive year for the Cuban church.''

             A view that John Paul II may feel frustrated at the lack of greater change in Cuba
             was underscored last year when the Vatican appointed Dagoberto Valdes, a lay
             worker and editor of the most outspoken church publication, Vitral, to the
             Pontifical Commission on Justice and Peace, a worldwide organization focusing on
             rights.

             ``That's a sign that the Vatican supports his work,'' Malone said.

             Castro's approach

             As the church pushes its limits, experts see little downside for Castro, who wins
             credit abroad with those who believe he may be showing more tolerance for
             church autonomy.

             Indeed, church officials say the government approval for 19 more priests to come
             to Cuba was a sign of the less strained relations with the Castro regime.

             ``This wasn't a concession to someone coming to Cuba or someone interceding
             from abroad. This was in response to a simple request by Cuban bishops,'' said
             Eduardo Mesa, editor of Espacios magazine of the Havana archbishop's office.
             ``The positive in this is that church-state relations aren't `good' or `bad.' They are
             just normal.''

             For the first time in 40 years, the number of priests in Cuba will soon exceed 300,
             Marquez said.

             But in other significant ways, the government has placed limits, circumscribing the
             action of Caritas, the church's charitable arm. During the past five years, Caritas
             has channeled more than $22 million in medicines and other donations into Cuba
             from the United States.

             Handling of foreign aid

             On Jan. 17, an article in Christian Life said the government was snarling the arrival
             of foreign medical donations in bureaucracy and creating obstacles for the Cuban
             church in the purchase of foodstuffs for the needy.

             When church medical supplies arrive, they are often exhausted rapidly, giving rise
             to rumors that some doctors write prescriptions indiscriminately with the intent of
             emptying Caritas' drug cabinets, seeing the alternative health program as
             undermining the state system.

             Caritas has been put further in the limelight by Washington's insistence that any
             increased aid be channeled through the Catholic charity.

             ``When the United States says it will only provide assistance through Caritas,''
             Lopez said, ``it makes the hard-liners say, `Look, Caritas isn't anything but a
             Trojan horse for the United States.' They say that through these channels, the
             United States is trying to subvert the system.''
 

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