pope benedict xvi visits cuba
pope benedict xvi visits cuba, Pope Benedict XVI has called for freedom of conscience and religion in Cuba. Photograph: Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images
Pope Benedict XVI, flying to Cuba for a historic visit, has said that Marxism was out of place in the contemporary world and urged Cubans to find "new models".
His remarks on Friday were at least as forthright as any made by his predecessor, John Paul II, on a groundbreaking trip to the country 14 years ago. Answering a question about his visit to Cuba, which has remained a communist bastion for more than 50 years, the pope said: "Today it is evident that Marxist ideology in the way it was conceived no longer corresponds to reality."
He told reporters accompanying him on the papal plane: "In this way we can no longer respond and build a society. New models must be found with patience and in a constructive way."
Benedict also said that his church wanted "to help in the spirit of dialogue to avoid trauma and to help bring about a just and fraternal society". But his comments are likely to cause irritation in Havana.
The pope's use of the word "trauma" reflected fears in the Vatican of a disorderly transition after the death of Cuba's 85-year-old revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro. In 2008, the ailing Castro handed over power to his brother, Raul.
The pope himself will turn 85 next month, and Friday saw him with a walking stick for the first time in public. He used the cane to cover the 100 metres or so from his helicopter to the plane that would fly him to Mexico on the first leg of his journey.
Papal aides said he had been using the stick in private for about two months because it made him feel more secure, and not for medical reasons. Last year, he began using a wheeled platform during ceremonies in St Peter's.
A ghost will be following Pope Benedict at every step of his trip to Mexico and Cuba — that of his predecessor John Paul.
John Paul, who died in 2005, was a huge draw in many places. But, apart from his native Poland, nowhere was he a more towering figure than in Latin America, visiting every one of the region’s countries at least once. He drew oceanic, throbbing crowds, sloshed through swampy slums in Ecuador, challenged Maoist guerrillas in the Peruvian highlands and defended miners’ rights in Bolivia.
The more cerebral, sedate and shy Benedict, who enters the eighth year of his papacy in April, is making only his second trip to Latin America and his first to the Spanish-speaking part. He visited Brazil in 2007.
John Paul, underscoring the importance of overwhelmingly Roman Catholic Latin America for the Church’s future, chose Mexico as the first place to go just months after his election in 1978. He made one trip to Latin America nearly every year of his 27-year papacy, the last when he was 82 and in failing health. Of the 22 trips Benedict has made since his election in 2005, 15 of them have been in Europe.
Opinion polls show that a majority of people in Mexico and Cuba, reflecting the mood throughout Latin America, feel more affection and veneration for John Paul than for Benedict, who they believe understands them and their culture less.
The difference in pre-trip enthusiasm is so palpable that Bishop Jose Guadalupe Martin Rabago of Leon, the Mexican city where Benedict will be based, felt impelled to admonish his flock to stop making comparisons with John Paul. “From the perspective of faith, all popes are equal and deserve our respect and our loyalty regardless of the charisma they have,” he told CNNMexico.
Pope Benedict should not forget that Cuba in March 2012 remains “totalitarian” in nature, a one-party state run by General Raul Castro. It is a socialist/communist economy with a constitution that uniformly denies individual rights and suppresses human liberty. While a substantial movement of peaceful opposition has sprung up around the island, the regime seeks to dismiss it as a mercenary cabal orchestrated by the U.S. that lacks credibility or popular legitimacy.
The pope’s imminent arrival has sparked increased activity among the democratic opposition demanding an opportunity to meet with the pontiff to acquaint him with the reality of their conditions. Many on and off the island are encouraging such a meeting. Former Polish president and Solidarity leader Lech Walesa urged the pope to meet with “the people in Cuba who speak out in defense of the irrevocable and fundamental human rights, and demand social justice, wind up jailed and persecuted.”
Thus far, the Catholic Church in Cuba and the Vatican are refusing to consider a meeting with the opposition. On the other hand, the Vatican took aim at the U.S. and its trade restrictions with Cuba and indicated that the pope would be available for a private meeting with Fidel Castro.
In advance of the papal visit, the Cuban regime is stepping up harassment and repression to keep dissidents at bay. On March 17–18, it arrested at least 50 members of the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White), who have for years marched in solidarity with Cuban political prisoners. The regime’s organs of internal security have reportedly warned that any acts of civil disobedience or protests by the Damas or others will not be tolerated.The detention of members of the Damas de Blanco…in the lead up to Pope Benedict’s visit underscores the disdain of Cuban authorities for the universal rights of the Cuban people. The quiet dignity of the Damas stands in stark contrast with the acts of those who are standing in the way of the basic aspirations of the Cuban people. We call for the immediate release of all who were detained and for Cuban authorities to abandon their tactics of intimidation and harassment to stifle peaceful dissent.This policy of [Catholic Church] collaboration, after 50 years of Communist rule, has limitations. First, it is too timid for most Cubans that want to end the Castro era. Second, it lacks a clear and forceful rejection of Communism and its teachings. Third, it encourages the perception that the Church is more interested in its own survival than in the welfare of the Cubans. Fourth, it offends the memory of the many Catholics that died in the firing squads of the Castro regime proclaiming “long live Christ.” Finally, it antagonizes a large majority of Cuban Catholics, those living in exile in the United States.Unless [Pope Benedict] has something up his sleeve, the visit may turn out to be a gross miscalculation. Cubans know that they are hostages in their own country. If the Pope is perceived as going along with this big lie [that Cuba is changing for the better], it will only heighten the sense of betrayal toward Cardinal Ortega [the Church’s leader on the island] and it will do nothing to strengthen the Church in Cuba.
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