Pope Francis in Cuba: “The World Needs Reconciliation” (Video)
HAVANA TIMES – Ahead of his first U.S. visit, Pope Francis celebrated mass in Cuba Sunday before hundreds of thousands of worshipers in Havana’s Revolution Square. Born in Argentina, Francis is the first Latin American pope.
The pope is widely praised in Cuba for helping to broker secret talks with Washington that resulted in the further normalization of U.S.-Cuban relations, and praised the detente between the two countries as “an example of reconciliation for the entire world.”
The pope’s homily in Havana included no direct political message besides urging the successful conclusion of Colombia peace talks that have been taking place in Cuba for nearly three years. On Tuesday, Pope Francis arrives in Washington, where he will address Congress and meet with President Obama.
We speak about Pope Francis’ Cuba-U.S. trip with Carlos Alzugaray Treto, a former Cuban diplomat and former Havana University professor; and Andrea Bartoli, dean of the School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University and member of the Community of Sant’Egidio, a liberal Catholic group active in international affairs.
When Pope Francis said that: “The World needs reconciliation.” was he suggesting that those of us who live in freedom in the capitalist world should learn to accept totalitarian communist dictatorships? If not, what was he suggesting?
Not much wonder that Raul Castro Ruz, a man who executed 78 people in one day at Santiago de Cuba without trial saying in justification about the victims: “They had nothing to complain about, they had the services of a priest.” looks so very smug in the photograph above. Did he succour or connive with the Pope? Does Raul look like a man who has been admonished for his repression of the people of Cuba – or like one who has landed a big fish?
The Pope happily basks in accepting credit for bringing Cuba and the US together.
The series of six meetings held in Canada commenced in June, 2013. The current Pope was elected in April 2013 so he had little time in which to facilitate any meetings. Barack Obama said that the Pope wrote to both Raul Castro and himself encouraging the dialogue. Was there any other contribution?
Did the Pope write in the brief period between his election and the first meeting, or subsequently? As Prime Minister of the host country, Stephen Harper said:
“Canada supports a future for Cuba that fully embraces the fundamental values
of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”
That is a clear statement. Is there an equivalent statement by the Pope?