Pope Francis is credited with playing a key role in reestablishing diplomatic ties between Cuba and the United States. He gave the pontiff a huge crucifix made of oars and a painting of the Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, Cuba’s patron saint. He suffers from sciatica.
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Pope Francis celebrated Mass in Havana’s Revolution Square on Sunday, offering both spiritual and political messages for the tens of thousands who packed the plaza, the symbolic heart of the Cuban revolution.
After decades of communism, Mass attendance in Cuba is low; even the Holy See reports that only 60 per cent of the population is baptised Catholic. Francis was also due to meet later with Castro’s brother, President Raul Castro, who took power when Fidel stepped down amid a health crisis in 2006. It is also in the area where Cuban President Raul Castro and his brother Fidel were brought up. “Do you believe it is possible that a tax collector can be a servant?” he asked on Day 3 of his visit to the island.
Between 30-40 dissidents were detained to stop the-m attending papal events, a dissident human rights group said.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, confirmed that some dissidents were invited to events to receive a greeting from the pope but said he didn’t know why it didn’t come to pass.
In Cuba, most of the residents are Catholic, but fewer than 10% practice their faith.
He told the young people to have the courage to think outside the box after hearing one of them say Cuba’s youth were united in their desire for “profound change” in the country. “Service is never ideological, for we do not serve ideas, we serve people”, the pope said in his homily.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Hours later, Francis met with Fidel Castro, the retired founder of Cuba’s communist revolution.
Singing children and a small crowd waving Cuban and Vatican flags greeted Francis on arrival, some crying out, “Francis!” They have since opened embassies in Washington and Havana.
Pope Francis prayed for reconciliation among Cubans at home and around the world on Monday on the eve of his landmark trip to the United States, where he is expected to further encourage the historic rapprochement between two former foes.
Pope Francis (L) and former Cuban President Fidel Castro (R) exchange gifts as Castro’s wife Dalia Soto del Valle looks on in Havana, Cuba, September 20, 2015.
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With the pope arriving in the USA on Tuesday, a CBS News/New York Times poll finds 79 percent of American Catholics approve of his direction for the church.
