Cuba–Greece relations

Cuba has an embassy in Athens and Greece has an embassy in Havana. Greek positions on matters concerning Cuba are elaborated jointly with other European Union members.

History

St. Nikolaos Greek Orthodox Church in Havana

Mosaic depicting the handover of the keys by Fidel Castro to Patriarch Bartholomew

There are between 30 and 50 people of Greek descent in Cuba.^[1]^[2] They are located mostly in Havana, where there is a Greek embassy. In 2004, Cuba built its first church in 43 years, the St. Nikolaos Greek Orthodox Church in Old Havana. It serves Havana's estimated 8,000 Orthodox Christians, 50 of whom are Greek.^[3] Cuba's first Greek Orthodox church, Saints Constantine and Helen, was built in 1950 but was never used for church services. As of 2004, it remained the home of a children's theater company, despite diplomatic efforts by Giorgos Kostoulas, Greece's ambassador to Cuba, to return the church to its original purpose.^[1]

The Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was one of 30 political leaders, and the only one in Europe, to attend Fidel Castro's funeral in 2016.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b "Behind-the-scenes of an Orthodox church in Havana". AsiaNews. Retrieved 2009-05-08. Metropolitan Athenagoras admits that Cuba's generous gesture toward the Greek Orthodox community may appear incomprehensible. Most Cuban Christians are Catholics and of the few thousand Orthodox residents in Cuba, only 50 are Greek.
^ Diaspora General Facts Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Cuba: First church to open in 43 years". Archived from the original on 2011-06-10. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
^ Khaleeli, Homa (2016-11-29). "Fidel Castro's shrinking guest list and other controversial funerals". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-08-22.