Pope Benedict XVI
HAVANA, Cuba — A senior Roman Catholic Church official said Thursday that Pope Benedict XVI will be visiting Communist-run Cuba this spring.
According to Monsignor Jose Felix Perez, executive secretary of the Cuban Bishops Conference, the exact date of the trip, which coincides with the 400th anniversary of Cuba’s patron saint, will be announced in Rome early next week. It will be the first trip by a pontiff since John Paul II’s historic tour in 1998.
“It will be a moment for energizing the faith in Cuba. It will give strength and vigor to the faith in Cuba,” he said. “The visit should be one of peace and reconciliation.”
In recent years, Cuba’s church has played an increasingly important role in Cuba by helping negotiate the release of political prisoners in 2009 and 2010, and even consulting with President Raul Castro and his advisers on free-market changes he is pushing to save the island’s economy from ruin.
Cardinal Jaime Ortega, head of the Cuban church, played a key role in helping broker the deal to free the last of 75 opposition activists, intellectuals and social commentators who were imprisoned in a 2003 crackdown on dissent.
Meanwhile, nothing so groundbreaking is expected of the Benedict visit to Cuba, but it will nonetheless be a historic moment.
“I’m not a believer, but a visit from a personality such as the pope always means something and it will be great for the country,” said Roberta Lara, a 45-year-old in Havana. “I remember the visit by John Paul II; that was something very grand, emotional, that united the people. I think that in these times, (Benedict’s trip) will be very important.”
Perez said the pope would meet with members of President Raul Castro’s government, and may discuss the economic reforms that have already made it much easier for Cubans to do things like go into business for themselves, take out loans and buy and sell their homes and cars.
Perez also said Benedict’s primary motivation is to make a pilgrimage in honor of the Virgin of Caridad del Cobre, the patron of Cuba. A relic of the virgin has making its way around the island this year. Benedict “has a special affection toward the Church and people of Cuba for the social conditions in our country,” Perez said.
Vatican officials have said that the 84-year-old pope is also considering a visit to Mexico, and the Dec. 12 date for announcing the schedule for his trip coincides with celebrations of Mexico’s patron saint, the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Benedict has limited his travels mostly to Europe, both to spare him from long trips and to focus his efforts on a continent where Christianity has fallen by the wayside. He did visit Brazil in 2007 and has said he hopes to return in 2013 for World Youth Day, the church’s youth festival. And he has a trip to Benin coming up later this month, the second to Africa in his six-year-pontificate.
Mfrances is a staff writer for CatholicFavors.com that deals high quality Catholic related jewelry including affordable gold rosary bracelets, silver rosary bracelets, and Catholic gifts of the Holy Spirit.
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