Cubans gather for Pope’s Mass in Havana
Pope Benedict the 16th spoke before hundreds of thousands of Cubans in an open-air Mass held in the capital Havana on Wednesday.
The Pope’s Mass came on the final day of his 3-day visit, which was the first papal visit to the country in 14 years.
Among the crowd were around 300 exiled Cubans living in the southern US city of Miami, who were given special permission to return to attend the service.
In his sermon, the Pope praised the improvements made in Cuba where religious activities had been banned until 1992. But he called on the Cuban government to do more to strengthen the role of the Church in the country.
After the Mass, Pope Benedict met with revolutionary leader and former President Fidel Castro for about 30 minutes.
Details of their talks have not been made public. But local media say they discussed what Cuba and the Catholic Church can do together for w
Pope Benedict XVI has criticised the 50-year-old US trade embargo imposed on Cuba, as he ends a visit to the island.
The Pope called for greater rights in Cuba, saying he wanted a society in which no-one was denied basic freedoms.
This aim was not helped by economic measures which “unfairly burden” Cuba’s people, he said.
Earlier, Pope Benedict met Cuba’s revolutionary leader and former president, Fidel Castro, and celebrated Mass in front of vast crowds in Havana.Reports BBC
The Pope’s Mass came on the final day of his 3-day visit, which was the first papal visit to the country in 14 years.
Among the crowd were around 300 exiled Cubans living in the southern US city of Miami, who were given special permission to return to attend the service.
In his sermon, the Pope praised the improvements made in Cuba where religious activities had been banned until 1992. But he called on the Cuban government to do more to strengthen the role of the Church in the country.
After the Mass, Pope Benedict met with revolutionary leader and former President Fidel Castro for about 30 minutes.
Details of their talks have not been made public. But local media say they discussed what Cuba and the Catholic Church can do together for w
Pope Benedict XVI has criticised the 50-year-old US trade embargo imposed on Cuba, as he ends a visit to the island.
The Pope called for greater rights in Cuba, saying he wanted a society in which no-one was denied basic freedoms.
This aim was not helped by economic measures which “unfairly burden” Cuba’s people, he said.
Earlier, Pope Benedict met Cuba’s revolutionary leader and former president, Fidel Castro, and celebrated Mass in front of vast crowds in Havana.Reports BBC
No comments:
Post a Comment