Scottish Catholic Observer

Pope Benedict XVI will visit Cuba next spring, the first trip to the island by a Pontiff since Pope John Paul II’s historic tour in 1998.

“Supported by divine providence, I intend to carry out an apostolic voyage before Easter to Mexico and Cuba to proclaim the Word of Christ,” the 84-year-old Pope said during Mass on Monday in honour of the bicentennial of independence in Latin America, relayed to millions across the region.

The exact date of the trip, which coincides with the 400th anniversary of Cuba’s patron saint, will be confirmed shortly, Mgr José Felix Perez, executive secretary of the Cuban Bishops’ Conference, said last week.

“It will be a moment for energising the Faith in Cuba,” Mgr Perez added. “It will give strength and vigour to the Faith in Cuba. The visit should be one of peace and reconciliation.”

Itinerary

Pope Benedict has already been to Latin American during his Pontificate. He visited Brazil in 2007 and has said he hopes to return in 2013 for World Youth Day in Rio.

Vatican officials have said that the Holy Father is also considering visiting Mexico while in Latin America, before or after his visit to Cuba. Mgr Perez said the Pope’s primary motivation is to make a pilgrimage in honour of the Virgin of Caridad del Cobre, the patron of Cuba. A relic of the virgin has been making its way around the island this year. The Holy Father ‘has a special affection toward the Church and people of Cuba for the social conditions in our country,’ Mgr Perez said.

Mgr Perez said on next year’s trip that  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.

“What will be the content of their conversations? It’s difficult to foresee,” he said. “The changes that are already under way, which are perhaps too timid in my personal opinion, that is a matter that will probably appear. But it’s not the purpose of the Holy Father’s visit.”

Church and Cuba

The Catholic Church has played an increasingly important role in Cuba in recent years, 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.

Following the 1959 Cuban Revolution, as Fidel Castro increasingly embraced Marxism and the Soviet Union, anti-clerical actions increased. Authorities discouraged Christmas celebrations, closed religious schools in 1962 and barred Communist Party membership to people of religious belief. Relations between Church and state began easing after the Cold War. Cuba removed references to atheism from the constitution in the 1990s and allowed believers of all faiths to join the ruling Communist Party.

With Pope John Paul II’s visit in 1998, Castro shed his trademark olive-green fatigues for a business suit and tie and to greet the Pope personally at the airport.

The Pope celebrated a M­ass at a packed Revolution Square, calling for ‘Cuba to open to the world, and the world to open to Cuba.’