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By Andrew Cawthorne
CAMAGUEY,
Cuba, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Riding on horse-drawn carts, bicycles and fleets of
state-owned trucks, tens of thousands of Cubans streamed into Camaguey on
Thursday for Pope John Paul's second Mass on the island.
Sugar and cattle workers formed the bulk of those packing roads and trails
across the Caribbean island's central plains into this regional capital, where
at least 150,000 people are expected to attend Friday's service.
At the Mass site in Camaguey's Revolution Square, a garish pink altar has
been erected beside a vast, somber-colored monument to local independence hero
Iganacio Agramonte.
A white canopy, decorated with green leaves, will protect the frail
77-year-old Pontiff from the sun, while a special lift will hoist him up to the
altar. A new sofa has even been built to serve him for a few seconds in the
lift.
"I decided to make the altar pink to contrast with the statue and
freshen it up a bit,'' designer Maydelina Perez, 25, of the local Roman Catholic
Church, told Reuters. "I chose the leaves to give it an ecological touch,
since this is the Mass for youth, and the problem we young people have today is
saving our planet.''
In a show of unity, following President Fidel Castro's call for Cubans to
give the Pontiff a warm welcome, religious workers joined forces with communist
youth groups to organize the Mass at Camaguey, 360 miles (575 km) east of
Havana.
City authorities sent trucks and buses into the countryside to pick up
locals and ensure Castro's call to turn out in force was heeded. But there
seemed little need for persuasion.
"They're coming in any way they can -- on foot, on horse, by bike, by
car, whatever it takes,'' said local government official Oscar Garcia.
Young soldiers carefully swept the Mass site with aging metal-detectors,
while police and security agents guarded the area.
State-owned stores were selling a small range of papal trinkets for the
occasion.
Caps and T-shirts, depicting Castro's first meeting with the Pope in 1996,
were selling for $5 and $6.50 each -- nearly half the average monthly wage here,
and outpricing similar goods showing revolutionary icon Che Guevara.
But apart from these and a $4 papal stamp set, there was little of the
commercial paraphernalia that accompanies the Pope in other nations.
Locals were enthusiastic about seeing the Pope, but there appeared to be as
much curiosity as religious fervor.
"I'm not a believer. I'm an atheist, but I'm not going to miss this for
anything. Look, I've got the best seat in the house,'' said local construction
worker Luis Rodriguez, peering out of his 14th-floor apartment in a dishevelled
tower block opposite the Mass site.
"I want to see the Pope because I recognize he is a great figure of our
century. He wants to help everyone,'' he added. REUTERS
23:30 01-22-98 |