Pope praises US, Cuba as model for reconciliation
HAVANA, Cuba (AP) — Pope Francis hailed the easing of strained relations between the United States and Cuba as a model of reconciliation for the world, urging Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro to persevere in building normal ties as the pontiff launched a 10-day tour of the former Cold War foes on Saturday.
Francis’ surprisingly direct call for progress toward normalization came after weeks of Vatican assurances that he would not explicitly address politics during his pastoral trip to Cuba and the US. He served as mediator and guarantor of 18 months of secret negotiations that led to the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries this year.
“For some months now, we
have witnessed an event which fills us with hope: the process of normalizing relations between two peoples following years of estrangement,” the Pope said in a speech on the tarmac of Jose Marti International Airport.
“I urge political leaders to persevere on this path, and to develop all its potentialities as a proof of the high service which they are called to carry out on behalf of the peace and well-being of their peoples, of all America, and as an example of reconciliation for the entire world.”
Francis extended his greetings to Raul’s brother Fidel, with whom the pontiff is expected to meet as early as Sunday. He also said he wanted his greeting “to embrace especially all those who, for various reasons, I will not be able to meet” — a possible nod to political dissidents as well as ordinary Cubans across the island.
In a lengthy speech welcoming the Pope, Raul Castro praised Francis’ critiques of the global economic system, saying it has “globalized capital and turned money into its idol,” and thanked the pope for mediating negotiations on detente between the United States and Cuba.
No meeting with dissidents Like the last two popes to visit Cuba, Francis has no meetings with dissidents on his official schedule and his speeches here are being closely watched for their handling of two delicate and related topics: human rights in Cuba and the church’s freedom to operate in the officially agnostic, communist state.
Francis didn’t explicitly mention human rights in his speech, but said he would pray to Cuba’s patron saint, the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre, “for all her Cuban children and for this beloved nation, that it may travel the paths of justice, peace, liberty and reconciliation.”
While he made no reference to the church’s desire to be allowed to operate religious schools and broadcast on state-run television and radio, he said his trip was to help the church “support and encourage the Cuban people in its hopes and concerns, with the freedom, the means and the space needed to bring the proclamation of the Kingdom to the existential peripheries of society.”
Euphoric welcome
Francis arrived at the Vatican envoy’s residence to a euphoric welcome following a trip from the city’s international airport in the popemobile.
“Here he comes! Here he comes!” shouted hundreds of people waiting outside the residence as Francis approached.
On his arrival, people shouted: “Francis! Brother, now you are a Cuban!”
Francis was due to rest for the remainder of the day ahead of his first big Mass on Sunday in Havana’s Revolution Square, an official meeting with the Cuban president, a vespers service and his first encounter with Cuba’s young people.
The papal spokesman, Monsignor Federico Lombardi, said there were more than 100,000 people lining Francis’ route from the airport.
He will travel to the eastern Cuban city of Santiago to pray at the sanctuary of Cuba’s patron saint and stop in the city of Holguin en route, demonstrating once again his desire to visit the places that often get overlooked.
After flying from Cuba to the U.S. on Tuesday he will, like his predecessors, grab the world stage at the United Nations to press his agenda on migration, the envi-
ronment and religious persecution.
Syrian refugees
Meanwhile, the Pope while speaking with reporters aboard the papal plane described how he became emotional when he met a family of Syrian refugees who have been given shelter in the Vatican.
“There are wars, refugees who are escaping in this wave of migration away from wars,” he told reporters aboard the plane taking him from Rome to Havana to start his nine-day trip to Cuba and the United States.
“They are fleeing from death and seeking life,” he said. (With a report from Reuters)