Scottish Catholic Observer

The Holy Father was speaking in Santiago in the South East of Cuba on the fourth and last day of his visit to the country before he flies to Washington DC in the US later today.

In his homily during Mass at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, he said Cuba had been visited by the maternal presence of Our Lady.

“The Cuban homeland was born and grew, warmed by devotion to Our Lady of Charity,” he said. “As the bishops of this country have written: ‘In a special and unique way she has moulded the Cuban soul, inspiring the highest ideals of love of God, the family and the nation in the heart of the Cuban people.’”

The Pope said that generation after generation, day after day, we are asked to ‘live the revolution of tenderness as Mary, our Mother of Charity, did.’

“Like Mary, Mother of Charity, we want to be a Church which goes forth to build bridges, to break down walls, to sow seeds of reconciliation. Like Mary, we want to be a Church which can accompany all those ‘pregnant’ situations of our people, committed to life, to culture, to society, not washing our hands but rather walking with our brothers and sisters,” he said.

Yesterday, the Pope left ceramic roses at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre. Here he also met with Cuba’s bishops in private.

Earlier he had spent the morning in where he visited a monument to St John Paul II, commemorating his 1998 visit—the first papal visit—and celebrated Mass in the city of Holguín’s Revolutionary Square on the feast of St Matthew.

Later today he will meet with families in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Assumption in Santiago de Cuba before he leaves for the US.

Pic: People cheer as Pope Francis drives past in his popemobile in El Cobre, Cuba

—[email protected]