Published December 09, 2011
EFE
Havana – Cuba's Catholic bishops on Thursday issued a call for
rapprochement and reconciliation among Cubans during the coming year, in
keeping with the 400th anniversary of the finding of the image of the
Virgin of Caridad del Cobre and a planned visit by Pope Benedict XVI.
"Reunion and reconciliation among Cubans should be one fruit of the
Jubilee Year as a result, in each one of us, of a change in mentality
and attitude toward our neighbor," the bishops conference said in a
statement.
Pope Benedict XVI next spring will visit Mexico and Cuba on his second
trip to Latin America.
The pontiff will come to the Communist-ruled island as "a pilgrim of 'La
Caridad'" within the framework of the 400th anniversary of the discovery
of the image of the country's patron saint.
The Holy Father will announce the exact dates of his visit on Monday
during a Mass at St. Peter's Basilica on the occasion of the
bicentennials of several Latin American countries, bishops conference
spokesman Jose Felix Perez told reporters in Havana.
Also scheduled to be present at that Mass will be Cardinal Jaime Ortega,
Cuba's Catholic primate, the spokesman said.
So far, only scanty details about the papal visit are known, but
according to information imparted by The Vatican to the Cuban bishops,
it will be "brief."
Also, it is forecast that one of the central events of the visit will
take place at the Santuario del Cobre, in the eastern part of the
island, which normally houses the image of the Virgin of Charity.
Since last year, Church authorities have been taking the image on a
pilgrimage throughout the country and currently it is in Havana where
that journey will come to an end at the end of this month and thereafter
image will be returned to its habitual sanctuary.
Benedict XVI's trip will be the second by a pope to Cuba after John Paul
II's historic visit in 1998.
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/12/09/bishops-call-for-reconciliation-among-cubans/
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