Top Story – Pope Francis delivered mass in Cuba on Sunday, as part of a visit that has highlighted the complex relationship between Catholicism and the island nation’s politics.
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Once he has finished his four-day tour of Cuba, Francis will head to the United States, visiting three cities: Philadelphia, New York and Washington DC.
During his flight to Cuba, Vatican Radio reported that the pope spoke of meeting the Syrian refugee family being housed at a Vatican parish.
Latin America’s first pope and Castro, the region’s last surviving leftist icon of the 20th century, discussed religion and world affairs at the home of the 89-year-old retired president for about 40 minutes.
Pope Francis celebrates Mass with tens of thousands of Cubans on Sunday in Havana’s Revolution Square, the political heart of Cuba where the Communist government stages its biggest rallies.
At his open air mass, Francis told an estimated 200,000 people to beware of the dangers of ideology and the lure of selfishness. He also met with his brother, Cuban President Raúl Castro. Pope Francis met with Fidel Castro on Sunday before finishing the day with a vespers service in Havana’s cathedral, and then meeting with the youths.
Such criticisms have endeared him to Castro, who vowed earlier this year that if Francis kept it up, he would return to the Catholic Church.
After his arrival on Saturday, he hailed improving ties between the two countries as “an example of reconciliation for the whole world”.
“I am aware of the efforts and I am aware of the sacrifices the Church in Cuba has carried out to take to all, even in the most remote locations, the word and the presence of Christ”, said Pope Francis. He told them to have the courage to think outside the box after hearing one of them say Cuba’s youth was united in a desire for “profound change” in the country. “All of us are called by virtue of our Christian vocation to that service which truly serves, and to help one another not to be tempted by a “service” which is really “self-serving”, the pope said. As Pope Francis is preparing to travel to the U-S Tuesday, we found people who have dreams of traveling to the U-S too.
Both his predecessors, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, visited the island during their papacy.
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The visit to Holguin, which has never been visited by a pontiff before, was a change of pace for Francis, who spent yesterday celebrating Mass and meeting with Fidel and Raul Castro in Havana.
