Pope to celebrate Mass in Havana’s Revolution Square

Francis delivered a mostly religious homily to the tens of thousands present, but sprinkled it with criticism of “elitism” and ideology. “And the Holy Father’s presence has been such a blessing”, said O’Malley. Saturday night, the pope pressed for more progress in a speech on the tarmac of Jose Marti worldwide Airport soon after landing in Cuba. While there, the Pope has visited with leaders and offered his blessing to a gathering of an estimated 200,000 people in what has been called “Cuba’s largest papal mass ever”, NBC News reports.

This year marks the centenary since Benedict the 15 declared Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre as patroness of Cuba.

Most Cuban-Americans who gathered at La Ermita seemed to embrace Francis’ message of U.S.-Cuba reconciliation.

Speaking at the end of mass in Cuban capital, where the two sides have been negotiating, the pope called on the Revolutio-nary Armed Forces of Colombia and the government to achieve a lasting peace deal. Pope Francis has a close relationship with Cardinal Ortega, who has overseen the church’s relationship with the Cuban state since 1981.

The Pope celebrated Mass on Sunday in Havana’s iconic Revolution Square, which marked the first time Cubans were addressed in Spanish by a Pontiff.

The Vatican described the 40-minute meeting at Castro’s residence as informal and familial, with an exchange of books and discussion about big issues facing humanity, including Francis’ recent encyclical on the environment and the global economic system.

Pope Francis marked a personal anniversary Monday – the day he decided as a teenager to become a priest – by traveling to the Cuban city of Holguin.

Four dissidents opposed to Cuba’s communist regime were arrested when they tried approaching Pope Francis in Havana on Sunday, an activist group reported.

Meanwhile, several leading dissidents have criticized the pope for not accepting their requests to meet him during his visit.

Following the meeting with Castro, Francis presided over a vespers service at the Immaculate Conception and San Cristobal cathedral.

People cheer as Pope Francis arrives at Revolution Square in Havana on September 20, 2015. Believers and nonbelievers alike streamed into the square before dawn, and they erupted in cheers when the pope spun through the crowd in his open-sided popemobile. Later in the day, he flew to Santiago for an evening visit to the shrine of Cuba’s patron saint, and on Tuesday he will arrive in Washington for the US leg of his visit to the two former Cold War enemies.