Francis calls for a ‘revolution of tenderness’

The Catholic faith of Cuba is a key element in developing its national identity and should be used as a resource to bring about a new “revolution of tenderness”, Pope Francis stressed during his four-day visit to the country.

During the trip, and following in the footsteps of his predecessors, Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, Francis met with former president Fidel Castro for what was described as a friendly and informal visit.

At the same time the Holy See reached out to two longstanding dissidents of the communist regime, Marta Beatriz Roque and Miriam Leiva, for a meeting with the Pope who, according to Holy See spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi, wanted to show his concern for them. “The responsibility was given to the nuncio to call them and tell them I would greet them with pleasure outside the cathedral,” Francis said on the plane from Cuba to Washington. “But it was clear this was not going to be an audience.” In the event the pair, who were due to meet the Pope on Sunday evening, were detained by Cuban security agents. According to Roque she was also detained on Saturday when she had been due to meet Francis at the nunciature.

During his homilies the Pope stressed the need for Cubans to serve each other but, as he explained during Mass at Revolution Square in Havana, “service is never ideological”.

After Havana, Francis travelled to the eastern part of the country to the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity in El Cobre, Santiago. In his homily, he said that “the Cuban homeland was born and grew, warmed by devotion to Our Lady of Charity”, and he called on the country to “live the revolution of tenderness as Mary, our Mother of Charity, did”. At Mass in Holguín Francis recognised the creative efforts of the Church with the use of “mission houses” which, he said, “given the shortage of churches and priests, provide for many people a place for prayer, for listening to the word of God, for catechesis”. For the first time in 50 years permits for three new churches were approved recently.