Hidden connection of Cuba and Benin papal trips

It is a hidden story that lies behind the last apostolic visits of Pope Benedict. He is following the trail of the slaves, he literally visits the symbolic places of capture, abduction and exploitation of thousands and thousands of Africans. Last year it was Benin, today it is Cuba.

On the shores outside of the city of Ouidah in Benin, from where shipload after shipload of human cargo was sent over the Atlantic ocean, there stands the „gate of no return“, remembering the origin of the trail of the slaves.

Not far away there stands the “gate of reconciliation”, constructed by christians in the year 2000.

Pope Benedict XVI. visited in November 2011, deliberately choosing this symbolic place to remind the Church and the world of Africa’s contribution to Peace and Reconciliation.

The Church in Africa is called to foster peace and justice. In the words of Benedict XVI: Both gates do remind us of our duty to denounce and fight all forms of slavery.

Today, in Santiago de Cuba, Benedict XVI. stands at the arrival point of the trail of slavery. Latin America and the Caribbean islands were beneficiaries of slavery, the enormous wealth of the sugar-barons is still visible in the columns and the plastering of the great houses in the centre of la Habana. The sugar plantations made the island rich, and the slaves paid for it with their labour and their lives.

Africa’s heritage is very visible here in Cuba. A walk through the streets, a look inside one of the churches, the music, the literature, all of that gives testimony to the traditions of Africa.

Also, the story the independence of Cuba cannot be separated form the abolitionist movement. The place pope Benedict visits, the sanctuary of the Virgen de la Caridad, is the symbolic origin of both.

In 1801 a manifest for the liberation of the slaves was published here, 60 years later the abolitionists also made it the focal point for Cuba’s independence. The Virgin is the patron of Liberation, from Slavery as well as from colonialism.

“The future has its roots in the past and in the present”. These words of pope Benedict in Benin mark the perspective of this hidden story of the papal visits.

Racism and discrimination are not things of the past. The struggle against them is part of the calling of the Church, not only because it is a human duty to do so, but also because it is the only way to justice and peace.

To achieve this, the “courage that comes from forgiveness” is needed, as the pope told the Church in Africa.

During his visit here in Latin America Benedict XVI. is stressing the need for reconciliation in relation to the violence connected to narco-traffic, and he does so with view to the society in Cuba.

However, he always does so also in regard to the past connecting his last two papal visits. The symbol for this: The second gate in Ouidah, the “gate of reconciliation”.

(Fr. Bernd Hagenkord, SJ reporting from Cuba)
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