HAVANA (Reuters) - Someone scrawled "Christ yes, Castro no, down with Fidel" on a Havana church as wives of
imprisoned dissidents attended Mass inside.

"This is a provocation by state security to cause trouble for us and the church," said Gisela Delgado, wife of well
known dissident Hector Palacios and a member of the Santa Rita Church in the upscale Miramar district.

Once the graffiti was found, police quickly arrived at the church and covered the large green letters on the front of
the building with cardboard, then waited for the graffiti to be cleaned off.

About a dozen women in white held a quiet march outside the church as police looked on, one holding the
cardboard over the sign.

The wives said state security agents were always posted outside the church on Sundays and it would have been
impossible to vandalize the building without their noticing.

The church has become the centre of unprecedented protest in a country known for effectively quashing all public
dissent. The one exception is the wives of the dissidents who attend mass at the church, then hold marches and
vigils outside.

The women said they believed the graffiti could be aimed at forcing the church to stop them from marching outside
in the future.

March 18 marks two years since President Fidel Castro rounded up 74 men and one woman and charged them
with working for the United States to subvert the country. They were quickly tried behind closed doors and sentenced
to average 19-year terms in April 2003 despite international outcry.

Twelve of the 75 have since been released for health reasons.

"I am very sad about this (the graffiti) and the use of Christ's name," the Rev. Jose Felix Perez told Reuters, as he
talked with some of his flock inside the church after the Mass.