The Roman Catholic archbishop of Miami on Saturday talked to reporters about the Pope’s upcoming visit to Cuba.
The world and Cuba have changed since Pope John Paul II visited in 1998 and this time expectations that a papal visit might bring political change are muted.
Hopes that papal visit will lead to Cuban spring more spiritual than political
Hopes that papal visit will lead to Cuban spring more spiritual than political
Pope Benedict XVI prayed for freedom and renewal "for the greater good of all Cubans" before the nation's patron saint Tuesday, but the island's communist leaders quickly rejected the Roman Catholic leader's appeal for political change after five decades of one-party rule.
Pope Benedict XVI met with Cuban ruler Raúl Castro in Havana’s Revolution Palace late Tuesday. Earlier, Miami’s Archbishop Thomas Wenski repeated the pope’s criticisms of Marxism at the cathedral in Havana.
The search for truth will lead to true liberty, Pope Benedict XVI exhorted in a homily delivered before hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Havana’s Revolution Plaza Wednesday to hear the pontiff celebrate Mass in the highlight of his three-day visit to the island.
Yet while the pope made frequent use of the word “liberty” — a politically charged word in Cuba — government officials stepped up arrests and detentions of dissidents, including at least two women who were held on their way to Mass on Wednesday.
“Cuba and the world need change,’’ the pope said in closing his homily, “but this will only occur if each one is in a position to seek the truth and chooses the path of love, sowing reconciliation and brotherhood.’’
The crowd listened with rapt attention to the 84-year-old pontiff’s softly-spoken words as he invoked the Rev. Felix Varela, a revered 19th-Century Cuban priest, and called for the creation of a society that is “worthy and free.’’
“Father Varela offers us a path to a true social transformation: to form virtuous men and women in order to forge a worthy and free nation,’’ he said. “For this transformation depends on man’s spiritual life, in as much as there is no authentic fatherland without virtue.’’
He urged the faithful to reject hate, transcend differences in politics and religion, and to strive for truth. He called for greater religious freedoms, and the opportunity for the church to do more in Cuban society.
At the closing of Mass, Cuban ruler Raúl Castro quickly made his way to the altar and shook hands with the pope — the second time Castro made a very public effort to show solidarity with the Catholic church. Castro did the same after the pope’s Mass in Santiago de Cuba on Monday.
Behind the scenes of today’s Mass and the pope’s visit, the Cuban government has used a strong hand to control public perception of events by restricting the access of the international press corps and stepping up arrests and detentions of dissidents.
Groups on the island have reported more than 200 arrests of dissidents in the days before and during the pope’s visit, including more than 60 people who were detained or placed under house arrest on Tuesday to keep them away from the globally-televised event.
Cuban government officials have paid particular attention to the so-called Ladies in White, a well-known and respected movement of women who wear white and gather at Masses at Catholic churches in Cuba to protest the treatment of the island’s prisoners of conscience.
A group of the women vowed this week to make their presence known at today’s Mass, but it was unclear how many from the group attend.
Family members said the group’s Becky Felicia and Jessica Casternau were arrested Wednesday on their way to the plaza.
The packed public square was strongly encouraged by the Cuban government, which declared Wednesday a virtual national holiday by announcing that workers would have the day off and schools would be closed.
Throngs welcomed Benedict with songs, cheers and flags as his motorcade rolled into Revolution Plaza.
Raúl Castro, accompanied by government officials, was seat in a front row platform. The men were dressed in white, long-sleeved guayabera shirts and gray slacks.
Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Cuba on Monday beginning a three day trip in which the leader of the Catholic church met with Cuban leaders and publicly spoke on the need for religious freedom. Pope Benedict spoke before a large audience yesterday in the  in . Benedict called for change in Cuba and the rest of the world.

Pope Benedict XVI  (2010)

"Cuba and the world need change, but this will occur only if each one is in a position to seek the truth and chooses the way of love, sowing reconciliation and fraternity," he said.

Benedict's arrival in Cuba comes 14 years after the first papal visit by Pope John Paul II. The late pope addressed the nation in 1998 and said that Cuba should "open itself up to the world, and may the world open itself up to Cuba." Benedict's speech in Havana focused on the rise of religious freedom in Cuba since the 1990s – when the country dropped official atheism – as well as the need for more religious freedom in the country.

"It is with joy that in Cuba there have been steps so that the church can carry out its mission. ... The right to freedom of religion, as an individual and a community, manifests the unity of a human being, citizen and believer at the same time," he said.

While Benedict kept the speech mostly apolitical, during the trip he made comments that could be interpreted as criticism of the communist country.

"There are those who wrongly interpret this search for the truth, leading them to irrationality and fanaticism; they close themselves up in 'their truth' and try to impose it on others," Benedict said.

Also during the trip, the pope prayed for greater freedom for Cubans at the statue of the  in . The pope also said Cuba's political system "no longer corresponds to reality."


In response, , vice president of the island's council of ministers, said Cuba is sustainable and will not change. "In Cuba, there will not be political reform,"  Murillo said. 

According to groups on the island, 60 individuals were detained or put on house arrest during Pope Benedict's televised Mass. Amnesty International also reported that Cuban human rights organizations, such as the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation, were unable to communicate via phones or mobile-phones starting Monday. 


"The clampdown has seen an increase in arrests, activists' phones have been disconnected, and some have had their houses surrounded to prevent them (from) denouncing abuses during Pope Benedict's tour," Amnesty International said.

In addition to visiting various cities in Cuba and celebrating Mass in Havana, Benedict also met with former Cuban President Fidel Castro yesterday. According to a Vatican spokesman, Castro asked for a "modest and simple" meeting with the pontiff. The two spoke for 30 minutes in which the former president – who stepped down in 2006 due to illness – asked the pope about the evolution of the Catholic church over the years and what life is like as a pope.

Castro spoke of the pope in a positive light: "...a man whose contact with children and humble members of society has, invariably, raised feelings of affection."

Pope Benedict left Cuba Wednesday evening.