Pope offers punches to Cuban Regime

I remember a political cartoon published in the Augusta Chronicle during John Paul II’s visit to Cuba in 1998.  It depicted Fidel Castro and the devil.  The devil, visibly upset, yelled at an ashamed Castro, “Invitastes a quien???”  Translation: “Who did you invite???”

There has been much talk about Pope Benedict’s apostolic visit to the island nation of Cuba.  Some criticize the Pope’s presence as condoning Castro’s regime, yet the Pope has used his presence among the Cuban people as a moment to poignantly speak against the island’s political system.

Here are a few of the punches Pope Benedict gave Castro’s declining regime:

“Today it is evident that Marxist ideology in the way it was conceived no longer corresponds to reality.”

From his homily in Revolution Square which focused on liberty and freedom (politically charged words in Cuba):

“The right to freedom of religion, both in its private and in its public dimension, manifests the unity of the human person, who is at once a citizen and a believer.  It also legitimizes the fact that believers have a contribution to make to the building up of society.”

“Father Varela [a Cuban priest] offers us a path to a true social transformation: to form virtuous men and women in order to forge a worthy and free nation, for this transformation depends on man’s spiritual life.  Cuba and the world need change, but this will occur only if each one is in a position to seek the truth and chooses the way of love, sowing reconciliation and fraternity.”

From his arrival speech:

“I carry in my heart the just aspirations and legitimate desires of all Cubans, wherever they may be, their sufferings and their joys… those of the young and elderly, of adolescents and children, of the sick and workers, of prisoners and their families…”

“The rebirth of society demands upright men and women of firm moral convictions, with noble and strong values who will not be manipulated by dubious interests.”

May the Pope’s presence among the Cuban people fulfill his intentions: “to confirm my brothers and sisters in the faith and strengthen them in the hope which is born of the presence of God’s love in our lives.”