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By Frances Kerry
HAVANA, Jan 18
(Reuters) - President Fidel Castro's call to Cubans to turn out in force to
greet Pope John Paul is a powerful signal that he intends to be firmly in
control of the Pontiff's historic trip to the communist island this week.
Castro's appeal, made at the end of a marathon appearance on state
television in the early hours of Saturday, will have taken some of the wind out
of the sails of the Cuban Roman Catholic Church just days ahead of the Jan.
21-25 visit.
Castro's astute political move means that the Church will find it more
difficult to claim that large crowds for the Pope indicate it has been able to
mobilize wide support among the population.
Until Friday, it had been the Church that urged the faithful to attend the
Pope's four outdoor masses in the cities of Havana, Santa Clara, Camaguey,
Santiago de Cuba.
But now the state has claimed the role as master of ceremonies, and ensured
the crowds will not just be the faithful and the curious.
"We want the squares full,'' said Castro, calling on all citizens,
believers or non-believers, to attend out of "courtesy to the visitor.''
Such calls, while expressed as a hope, usually becomemore like an order in
Cuba, even if Castro stressed that he did not want anyone feeling obliged to go
to see the Pope. At the very least, members of Cuba's Communist Party will be
expected to turn out.
This leaves the Church in the position of making almost a rival call.
Father Rolando Cabrera, presiding over Mass in Havana Cathedral on Sunday,
noted in his sermon that Castro had urged
Cubans to mobilize, but said "the Church is also capable of calling on
Cubans to attend Masses.''
In fact, when Cuban cardinal Jaime Ortega made a 30-minute address to Cubans
on state television last Tuesday, he cautiously steered clear of urging them to
go to the Masses.
Havana's local newspaper Tribuna, like all Cuban media state-controlled,
published "orientations'' to the public on Sunday about where they should
assemble on Jan 21, the afternoon the Pope arrives, to see the Pontiff travel
into Havana from the airport.
The published map of Havana and a breakdown of where people from each
district should gather, looked exactly the same as the "orientations'' that
newspapers publish for revolutionary events such as the big gathering in
Havana's Revolution Square every May 1.
Castro's six-hour television address, being repeated on Sunday afternoon,
also made clear that he would take a key role in the proceedings. The Cuban
leader announced he would attend the Pope's Mass in Revolution Square next
Sunday.
"I will be at the Mass with the Pope, together with the people, taking
part in the pride of being what we are and how we are,'' said the Cuban leader,
whose landmark meeting with the Pontiff at the Vatican in November 1996 paved
the way for this week's visit.
Castro's address, whose main points have been reiterated in the state media,
appeared aimed at sending signals not just to Cubans but to the world.
More than 3,000 representatives of foreign media are descending on Cuba to
cover an event which has aroused huge interest because of the perception that
the Polish Pontiff could not visit one of the last remaining communist nations
without precipitating some change.
But Castro, while probably relishing the attention, has scorned the idea
that he and and the Pope are in some way ideologically opposed or that Cuba's
one-party system is threatened by the visit.
Irritating at least some Cubans who recall the 1970s and 1980s when stated
religious belief was not "politically correct,'' Castro has stressed Cuba
was never anti-religious and described the Pope's visit as a chance to show the
world Cubans are cultured, civilized and respectful of all religions.
The Church, hemmed in after Castro's 1959 revolution but enjoying a certain
renaissance in recent years, has been given a big boost by the Papal visit.
The preparations alone have given it some of the concessions from the
government it has been seeking, such as cardinal Ortega's appearance on
television, or the granting by Castro of a one-off public holiday for Cubans at
Christmas.
The Pontiff himself said in a Christmas message to Cubans that he hoped that
after his visit the Church would continue to enjoy increasing latitude.
But by making the visit an event for all and not just for the faithful,
Castro has indicated he will be keeping a close watch on th amount of space
conceded to the Church. REUTERS
16:45 01-18-98 |