Catholic Church to Be Built in Santiago de Cuba

For the first time since the 1959 Revolution, the Republic of Cuba will allow for a church to be constructed on the island.

The Cuban government has approved a permit for the construction of a Catholic church building in Santiago de Cuba, the island's second largest city. The demand for a new facility came after Hurricane Sandy destroyed an older building.

Catholics have been hearing Mass in the street since Hurricane Sandy destroyed their previous church. Part of the new church will be built from the steel beams of the stage on which Pope Benedict XVI said Mass when he visited Havana in 2012.

Construction for the new church building will be privately funded in part via St. Lawrence Parish in Tampa, Florida, many of whose members are Cuban exiles and their offspring.