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.c The Associated Press
By DAVID BRIGGS
HAVANA (AP) -
The faithful sang and prayed Tuesday in the streets of Havana, and Cubans of
every persuasion - Catholic, communist and curious - awaited a papal visit that
many said could be a turning point for their nation.
In a concession to the pope that had some churchgoers in tears, a bishop
expelled from Cuba at the lowest point of church-state relations was allowed to
return and celebrate Mass Tuesday in his old parish.
On the eve of John Paul II's first visit ever to Cuba, the communist
government was still working to patch and tidy up sections of the crumbling
capital, which has been ravaged by a collapsed economy.
Crews poured and steamrolled fresh asphalt over the cracked and potholed
roads, traveled by rusted and creaking old cars and trucks. Workers sprayed
yellow paint on one school's faded facade.
While most Cubans agree the pope's five-day visit will leave their country
changed, expectations on what will change depends on their political and
religious perspective.
Foes of Fidel Castro hope it will weaken his communist regime, which took
power in 1959. Castro hopes to gain stature for his revolution and support for
an end to the more than three-decade-old U.S. economic embargo. And the Cuban
church hopes to expand its influence.
Bishop Eduardo Masvidal Boza, expelled in 1961 and returning for only the
second time since then, made a triumphant return to the Virgin of Charity Church
in Havana to lead a Mass.
Amid scattered shouts of "miracle,'' Boza entered the packed church in
a procession of more than 20 priests and altar boys.
The slight, stoop-shouldered Boza, whose face bears a resemblance to the
pontiff, smiled and waved his arms as parishioners applauded enthusiastically.
Many churchgoers wept openly, and some left their places to approach him, bend
over and kiss his ring.
"It's a miracle,'' said 62-year-old Cupertina Gutierrez, wiping away
tears. "We didn't hope top have this. We didn't expect this.''
Boza was allowed back into Cuba for a visit in 1988, when he also celebrated
Mass. In September 1961, Boza, an outspoken anti-Communist prelate, held a
massive celebration attended by 4,000 people on the feast day of Cuba's patron
saint.
Following the celebration, participants began a procession to the
presidential palace, some shouting slogans against the revolutionary government.
A melee ensued, and a passing teen-ager was killed.
Later that month, the government expelled Booze and 129 other priests, and
outlawed religious processions.
A nationwide prayer vigil was planned in churches throughout the country
Tuesday evening. Outside downtown Havana's Our Lady of Carmine Church, boys and
girls joyously swung each other around as young and old worshippers sang and
prayed as excitement continued to build for the pope, who is scheduled to
arrived a 4 p.m. EST Wednesday.
At Medalla Milagrosa Church, in the Havana neighborhood of Santos Suarez,
10-year-old Claudia, dressed in a pink Snoopy sweatshirt, dreamed of shaking
hands with the pontiff as she and others finished work on the last of 80,000
simple Cuban and papal flags made at the church.
"The pope is like God, a beautiful picture,'' imagines Claudia.
While Castro sought to burnish his government's image and the pope hoped for
a spiritual awakening in Cuba, it was unclear which of the two men has tougher
task of evangelization.
"Missions are more difficult here than in Africa or India. We have to
start from scratch. We have to explain everything,'' said the Rev. Jesus
Luzaretta, a Spanish priest who spends two months a year at Medalla Milagrosa
Church. "You can't easily wipe out 40 years of restrictions.''
In Washington on Tuesday, President Clinton was asked what the United States
was gaining by pressing the embargo against Cuba.
"We want Cuba to move toward freedom and openness, and if they do,
we'll respond,'' he said. "That's always been our position, and I believe
that in the end it will prevail.''
In his first visit on Cuban soil, John Paul is to be greeted in Havana by
Castro, then meet privately with the Cuban leader the following day.
Castro has encouraged Cubans to attend worship services to be led by the
pope in Santa Clara, Camaguey and Santiago, and he says he will attend the final
Mass at the government's most sacred site, the Plaza of the Revolution in
central Havana. State-run television is scheduled to broadcast the Mass live and
provide extensive coverage of the rest of the trip.
The visit is at least a minor boon to the Cuban economy - with estimates the
thousands of journalists and visitors will pour some $20 million into the
foreign currency-starved nation - and the government hopes the pontiff's
opposition to the U.S. economic blockade will further weaken U.S. efforts to
isolate Cuba.
However, if the anti-communist pope is taking a risk his visit will
strengthen the Cuban government, Castro, an altar boy turned revolutionary
leader, is gambling that the papal visit will not bolster opposition voices in
Cuban society, as his presence in his native Poland did in 1983.
This is not a Cuban pope returning to a homeland steeped in the practice of
the Catholic faith. This is a pontiff visiting a country where only 40 percent
of the 11 million population are baptized Catholics, and few practice their
faith on a regular basis.
"I believe the visit will have an impact in our country, a great
impact,'' said Elizardo Sanchez, a prominent Cuban human rights monitor who
spent 11 years in prison. "Although regretfully, I'm not expecting a
miracle, nor do I believe that the Holy Father thinks that there will be a
miracle. Because our country needs more than a miracle to solve its many
problems.''
For the church, those problems include overcoming an atmosphere of fear
created by almost four decades of hostile church-state relations.
Even with recent concessions such as allowing a few outdoor Masses and
door-to-door distribution of religious literature, Cuban Catholics say the
church faces a daunting task in explaining the rudiments of their faith.
There were no clerical collars in evidence at Medalla Milagrosa Church,
which was two-thirds full Monday evening for a movie about John Paul. Luzaretta,
the Spanish priest, was dressed informally. He said churches have to explain to
their own members who John Paul is and why he is coming.
But among the faithful, there is hope the papal visit will change their
lives.
As she talked on the balcony outside Our Lady of Carmen Church, 25-year-old
Madeleine Alonzo, could barely contain her excitement.
"The pope means to us hope, joy and faith. He's coming not for the
church, not for the government, not to Fidel. He's coming for the people,'' said
Alonzo, clasping and unclasping her hands and waving her arms as she spoke.
"We Cubans, we have so many problems. ... He's trying to be near the
people who are suffering,'' she said.
AP-NY-01-20-98 1941EST |