2012-03-29 15:07:19

Pope leaves “a small light” shining in Mexico and Cuba


Pope Benedict XVI returned safely to Rome on Thursday morning, after a six-day visit to Latin America that took him first to Mexico and then to Cuba. In his farewell address at Havana’s José Martì international airport, the Holy Father called on all the people of the island nation to look again to the faith of their elders, to draw from that faith the strength to build a better future, to trust in the Lord’s promises, and open their hearts to His Gospel so as to renew authentically their personal and social life. Philippa Hitchen travelled with the Pope and shares her conclusions on the visit: RealAudioMP3
From the very start of Pope Benedict’s pilgrimage to Mexico and Cuba, there was only one real question on the minds of media pack I was travelling with on the papal plane....would the Holy Father have a meeting with Cuba’s former revolutionary leader Fidel Castro?
As one of the world’s last bastions of communist control – an ideology firmly reinforced in a speech by the vice-president during the papal visit – the island nation has suffered the effects of a U.S. trade embargo for the past 50 years, something Pope Benedict described as an “unfair burden” on the Cuban people. A giant billboard I spotted in Havana was more hyperbolic, describing it as ‘the greatest genocide in history’. Current president Raul Castro also railed against the embargo as the source of all the country’s economic ills, when he welcomed the Pope at Santiago airport in the east of the country on Monday. The Pope instead spoke of the importance of dialogue, directing his words to “all Cubans, wherever they may be” – including the Florida based exile community which was highly critical of his visit. He talked of the need for greater freedom for the Church to carry out her mission – a theme that dominated all his speeches in Mexico as well as in Santiago and Havana. During that arrival ceremony in Cuba on Monday a troupe of blue and white clad ballet dancers suddenly leaped and pirouetted their way across the airport tarmac, a fitting symbol, I thought, for the carefully choreographed image the Cuban government strives to present.
But the other image that stays with me at the end of this week long journey is the one the secular press was after all along: a strikingly relaxed and intimate picture of two elderly men with hands clasped, in animated conversation – not, it turns out, about politics or economic problems, but about Catholic worship, the Pope’s mission and the deeper meaning of life. According to the papal spokesman, the 85 year old Fidel had strongly desired this meeting with the Pope to press him on how faith and morality can provide answers to questions that scientific progress has proved unable to resolve. The professor Pope, it appears, was more than delighted to be able to engage his famous host on the subjects closest to his heart – the complementarity of faith and reason, freedom and responsibility, as well as his desire to be a focus of unity for all people of faith.
And what did the founding father of the formerly atheist state make of all this? Well, it seems the half hour meeting – in a sense, the continuation of a conversation begun back in the 1990’s with former Pope John Paul II – was so compelling it caused El Comandante to ask Benedict if he could send him some books on these topics, a pledge the Pope promised to fulfil on his return to Rome.
So did politics overshadow the spiritual on this second Latin American visit of Pope Benedict XVI? Absolutely not, stressed the papal spokesman just before our plane took off again from Havana to Rome. The Pope’s meetings in both Mexico and Cuba were above all aimed at revitalising people of faith and encouraging the local Churches to take a more active role in the public life of the nation. His visit to the Marian shrine of Cuba’s patron, La Mambisa at El Cobre, and his celebration of Mass in central Mexico at the foot of the giant statue of Christ the King remain the central points of this papal journey. In a very visible way they illustrate the Pope’s words to the President and the people of Cuba at the end of this trip - that faith in Christ over the centuries has overcome evil and suffering. Today too, he told enthusiastic crowds in both countries, that message of God’s love for all can triumph over oppression and violence, just as “a small light” shines through “all that is dark and threatening”, bringing hope to even the most difficult situations.
Plenty of food for thought there for both political and religious leaders until the next papal visit to this region.
Below find the full text of Pope Benedict XVI’s farewell address at Havana’s José Martì airport:

Mr President, Your Eminences, my Brother Bishops, Distinguished Authorities, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends,

I thank God for allowing me to visit this beautiful Isle which left so deep a mark on the heart of my beloved predecessor, Blessed John Paul II, when he came to these lands as a herald of truth and hope. I too greatly have wished to come among you as a pilgrim of charity, in order to thank the Virgin Mary for the presence of her venerable statue of the Sanctuary of El Cobre, whence for four centuries she has accompanied the journey of the Church in this nation and given encouragement to all Cubans so that, from the hand of Christ, they might discover the true meaning of the desires and aspirations found in the human heart and gain the strength needed to build a fraternal society in which no one feels excluded. “Christ, risen from the dead, shines in this world, and he does so most brightly in those places where, in human terms, everything is somber and hopeless. He has conquered death – he is alive – and faith in him, like a small light, cuts through all that is dark and threatening” (Prayer Vigil with Young People, Freiburg, 24 September 2011). I thank the President and the other national authorities for the interest and generous cooperation which they have shown in the the preparation of this Journey. I am also deeply grateful to the members of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba, who spared no effort or sacrifice in this regard, and to all those who have helped in various ways, especially by their prayers.

I hold deep in my heart all the Cuban people, each and every one. You have surrounded me with prayer and affection, offered me cordial hospitality and shared with me your profound and rightful aspirations.

I came here as a witness to Jesus Christ, convinced that, wherever he is present, discouragement yields to hope, goodness dispels uncertainties and a powerful force opens up the horizon to beneficial and unexpected possibilities. In Christ’s name, and as the Successor of the Apostle Peter, I wished to proclaim his message of salvation and to strengthen the zeal and pastoral concern of the Cuban Bishops, the priests, the religious and all those preparing with enthusiasm for priestly ministry and the consecrated life. May this Journey also serve as a new impulse to all those who cooperate with perseverance and self-sacrifice in the work of evangelization, particularly the lay faithful. By intensifying their commitment to God at home and in the workplace, may they never tire of offering their responsible contribution for the good and the integral progress of their homeland.

The path which Christ points out to humanity, and to each particular individual and people, is not a source of constraint, but rather the primary and principal premise for their authentic development. The light of the Lord, has shone brightly during these days; may that light never fade in those who have welcomed it; may it help all people to foster social harmony and to allow the blossoming of all that is finest in the Cuban soul, its most noble values, which can be the basis for building a society of broad vision, renewed and reconciled. May no one feel excluded from taking up this exciting task because of limitations of his or her basic freedoms, or excused by indolence or lack of material resources, a situation which is worsened when restrictive economic measures, imposed from outside the country, unfairly burden its people.

I now conclude my pilgrimage, but I will continue praying fervently that you will go forward and that Cuba will be the home of all and for all Cubans, where justice and freedom coexist in a climate of serene fraternity. Respect and promotion of freedom which is present in the heart of each person are essential in order to respond adequately to the fundamental demands of his or her dignity and, in this way, to build up a society in which all are indispensable actors in the future of their life, their family and their country.

The present hour urgently demands that in personal, national and international co-existence we reject immovable positions and unilateral viewpoints which tend to make understanding more difficult and efforts at cooperation ineffective. Possible discrepancies and difficulties will be resolved by tirelessly seeking what unites everyone, with patient and sincere dialogue, and a willingness to listen and accept goals which will bring new hope.

Cuba, look again to the faith of your elders, draw from that faith the strength to build a better future, trust in the Lord’s promises, and open your heart to his Gospel so as to renew authentically your personal and social life.

As I bid you a heartfelt adios, I ask our Lady of Charity of El Cobre to protect all Cubans under her mantle, to sustain them in the midst of their trials and to obtain from Almighty God the grace that they most desire. Hasta siempre, Cuba, a land made beautiful by the maternal presence of Mary. May God bless your future.








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