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Cuba has 'surprise' Pope
mourning
By Stephen Gibbs, Havana.
BBC News,
UK, April 4, 2005.
Cuba has begun three days of national mourning
to mark the death of Pope John Paul II.
Flags in the communist state, which until
1992 was officially atheist, are being flown
at half-mast.
Play-offs in the national baseball league
have been postponed and many bars are closed.
President Fidel Castro sent his written
condolences to the Vatican, recalling what
he said were fond memories of the Pope's
visit to Cuba in 1998.
Cuba's communist-led government surprised
some by encouraging the population to reflect
on the life of John Paul II.
'Solidarity'
Cardinal Jaime Ortega, the most senior
Roman Catholic clergyman in Cuba, admits
to have been a little taken aback by the
Cuban government's attitude to the Pope's
passing.
"Is it a sign of special solidarity
in this moment," he said.
"We have no fiestas. It is very interesting.
It is a beautiful sign for us."
But plenty of delicate tensions do remain
between the Cuban government and the Catholic
Church.
The Church in Cuba, for example, is not
allowed to run its own schools or access
state media, as it would like.
It is certainly not permitted to appear
as a rival institution to the Cuban revolution.
Some differences might be forgotten in
these days of remembrance for the late Pope
but they have not gone away.
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