Regional religious leaders joined in the celebration of the 200th anniversary of Cuba's Archdiocese of Santiago.

BY FRED TASKER

Miami Archbishop John C. Favalora led a delegation of 12 religious leaders to Cuba over the weekend to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Archdiocese of Santiago -- a diocese Florida had been associated with nearly 500 years ago.

In a Sunday ceremony at the Cathedral of Santiago de Cuba attended by thousands, Favalora said, ``I found a church very, very alive. Their hearts were full of fervor. You could see it in the way they prayed.''

Favalora, however, also experienced the religious and humanitarian restrictions of the Cuban government. The group had taken 21 suitcases filled with donated rosaries and such medicines as insulin, antibiotics, vitamins and decongestants. They were stopped at the airport by Cuban government agents.

''If we hadn't brought them back, the government would have taken them,'' Favalora said. ``We couldn't permit that. We will try to deliver them later, by different means.''

South Florida Catholics feel a strong spiritual connection with the Archdiocese of Santiago, Cuba, Favalora said: from 1518 to 1793, Florida and Louisiana -- then Spanish possessions -- were part of that archdiocese.

''When the church in Florida was founded . . . in St. Augustine, it was subject to the Santiago de Cuba Archdiocese,'' Favalora said.

The church in Florida later came under the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The Diocese of Miami was founded in 1958, becoming an archdiocese in 1968.

The church delegation -- which included Favalora, Archbishop Roberto Gonzalez of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Monsignor Tomás Marín of Our Lady of Guadeloupe in Miami and nine others -- arrived in Santiago, at Cuba's eastern tip, on Saturday. Favalora said Mass at the Basilica de Nuestra Senora de la Caridad del Cobre just outside the city. He was joined by bishops from the 11 dioceses of Cuba.

''We prayed for the needs of the Cubans of the island and of the diaspora,'' Favalora said.

It was Favalora's fourth visit to Cuba. One came in 1998 during the visit of Pope John Paul II.

On Sunday, the 200th anniversary was celebrated at the Cathedral of Santiago de Cuba, with Mass led by Archbishop Pedro Meurice Estíu of Santiago. It was the close of a yearlong celebration of the anniversary.

Favalora said the congregation filled the pews, stood in the aisles, lined the balconies and crowded the area around the cathedral.

''The church was filled by people of every age,'' he said. ``You might expect that, 40 years after the revolution, it might not have many young people. But they were there.

``It's a credit to the church in Cuba. They've had a great deal of success. The grace of God is abounding because of it.''