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: 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.