NEWS STORY: John Paul arrives in Cuba for historic five-day visit

c. 1998 Religion News Service HAVANA _ Pope John Paul II, the aging but ardent champion of the Roman Catholic faith, Wednesday (Jan. 21) began his historic five-day visit to Cuba amid expectations his presence could lead to momentous political and religious change in one of the world’s last remaining communist nations. The visit, long […]

c. 1998 Religion News Service

HAVANA _ Pope John Paul II, the aging but ardent champion of the Roman Catholic faith, Wednesday (Jan. 21) began his historic five-day visit to Cuba amid expectations his presence could lead to momentous political and religious change in one of the world’s last remaining communist nations.

The visit, long desired by both the pope and Cuban President Fidel Castro, the last icon of Marxist revolutionaries, was officially billed as a pastoral visit, but both pontiff and president used their first exchanges in the moments after John Paul’s arrival at Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport to underline that the visit is freighted with political as well spiritual significance.


John Paul said he prayed Cubans might someday live in a”climate of freedom”and praised the continued faith of Cuban Catholics, who suffered severe persecution under Castro during the years Cuba was an officially atheist country.

Castro, meanwhile, taking full advantage of the international stage thrust upon him by the papal visit, touted the benefits brought about by his Marxist government and recited a litany of social injustices he said Cuba suffered prior to his coming to power in 1959.

Both men alluded to the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba. The Vatican has long opposed the embargo as detrimental to the average Cuban and the pope reiterated that opposition during the 12-hour plane trip from Rome to Havana.

In his airport remarks Wednesday, the pope concluded with a not-so-veiled reference to the boycott as well as the human rights situation in the Caribbean nation.”May Cuba, with all its magnificent potential, open itself up to the world and may the world open itself up to Cuba so that these people … looking for the truth … working to make progress, longing for comfort and peace, may look to the future with hope,”he said.

The pope, on the 81st foreign trip of his 20-year pontificate, touched down about 4 p.m. EST in his Alitalia airliner from Rome.

Castro, wearing a dark business suit instead of his usual army fatigues, waved as the pontiff slowly descended the steps wheeled up to the jet. Also on hand was Cuban Cardinal Jamie Ortega _ who was once jailed by Castro _ Catholic officials from the United States and elsewhere, foreign diplomats and the Cuban Army band.

John Paul, as one of his first acts when he visits a new country, usually kneels down to kiss the ground after disembarking. Here, he instead kissed a basket containing Cuban soil handed him by a group of children.


As the pope sat nearby wearing a long, white robe and baking under a bright Caribbean sun with temperatures hovering in the 80s, Castro welcomed the”holy father”to Cuba and then proceeded to lecture him for some 20 minutes on Cuba’s history of colonization and exploitation and on the advances in education and health care instituted by his government.

But he also spoke of contemporary class and racial discrimination, the ravages of capitalism, environmental degradation, and worldwide hunger. Castro noted his knowledge that the pope, too, is concerned with such issues, and he said the church and Cuba share a similar history.”The revolution, like the church, has many martyrs,”he said.

In addition, Castro spoke of being a youthful Catholic school student and being told other religions were wrong. And he spoke of the”bloody crimes”condoned by the church during European colonization of Latin America.

John Paul, also speaking in Spanish, urged Cubans above all to remember the Christian message of salvation in Jesus Christ.”Love, self sacrifice and forgiveness,”said John Paul, are the way to a better life.”The people who follow this path is a people with a better hope for the future.” The pope also praised both the Cuban bishops and church members for enduring the years when the church, which at times opposed Castro’s policies, was repressed.

In his most overtly political remarks, the pope then said he prayed that Cuba, which is a tightly controlled authoritarian state, may one day enjoy a”climate of freedom, mutual trust, social justice and lasting peace.” Cuba was the only Spanish-speaking nation in Latin America the pope had not visited prior to this trip, and at 77 and in fading health, it could well be the last major tour of his papacy.

John Paul will spend five days in Cuba celebrating four Masses in Havana and three other cities. The first is scheduled for Thursday in Santa Clara, in the center of the island. He will also meet with Catholic and other religious leaders and has a private meeting with Castro set for Thursday evening.


This is the pope’s second encounter with Castro. The two met previously in 1996 at the Vatican when Castro invited the pope to visit Cuba.

The pope’s stated purpose for this visit to Cuba, the 115th nation he has visited as pontiff, is pastoral. He has said he hopes his presence will strengthen a Cuban church weakened by 39 years of Castro’s leadership and lead to greater religious freedom for all Cubans, most of whom are not Catholic.

But as a confirmed anti-communist, the pope’s every action here will be scrutinized for its political implication.

Staunch anti-Castro exiles in the Unites States and elsewhere, hope the pope’s visit will lead to the end of communism in Cuba just as the pope played a role in the fall of communism in his native Poland.

For his part, Castro appears to be betting the papal visit will put pressure on the United States to modify its economic boycott of Cuba, which has helped bring the island nation to the edge of financial collapse.

The remarks of both men at the airport ceremony only served to heighten the potent mix of politics and religion that will mark this papal visit.


Among Cubans, attitudes toward the papal visit varied widely as did their feeling about what changes, if any, it would bring to their homeland.

Tomas Reynosa, a 37-year-old laborer, helping to complete last-minute repairs at the 200-year-old Cathedral of St. Christopher of Havana in the city’s old quarter, said he expects the pope’s visit to”awaken the faith of the people.” But Reynosa, who said he is a committed Catholic, just shrugged his shoulders when asked if the visit would change Cuba politically.

Manuel Gonzalez, 28, a police lieutenant, said he favored the papal visit because he believes the pope is a communist who shares a concern with Castro for social justice. Gonzalez, who said he was an atheist, said he hoped the visit would lead to an end to”American lies about Cuba.” Rosaida Reynaldo, 30, an unemployed office worker, said she believes the visit”will lift the spirits of all Cubans, even if they’re not Catholic, because the pope is an important person who can only help us.” The Rev. Jose Manuel Fernandez, a 72-year-old Havana parish priest, said he believed the papal visit will lead to”great change.”Not only should it result in greater freedom for the church, he said, but it will”slowly, slowly start to change everything here. Fidel is now also old and he knows very well that he cannot stop what will happen next after the people hear about freedom from the pope.”

DEA END RIFKIN

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