Cuba’s tiny patron saint a powerful national symbol

Despite what appeared to be thousands of plainclothes and uniformed security officers in Havana’s Plaza of the Revolution during a papal Mass on Sunday, a man began emotionally appealing to the pope and grabbing onto the popemobile as it drove through the crowd before the service.

The Vatican spokesman said Monday night that this trip was aimed partly at encouraging progress in the continuing effort to normalize U.S.-Cuba ties in fields ranging from commerce to environmental cooperation.

(AP Photo/Enric Marti). Pope Francis greets people from his popemobile on his way to the Hill of the Cross in Holguin, Cuba, Monday September 21, 2015.

The pope says: “Our revolution comes about through tenderness, through the joy which always becomes closeness and compassion, and leads us to get involved in, and to serve, the life of others”.

Francis – in his last major event in Cuba before departing for the United States – steered clear of previous comments during the trip that indirectly, but clearly, jabbed at Cuba’s leaders to offer more room for civil and faith groups, and speed permission for new Catholic churches. He worked behind the scenes to broker the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the two nations.

The pope avoided making overt political statements in Cuba, as dissidents had hoped he would, but used his homilies to send messages laced in spirituality about the need for change in the one-party Communist country.

This will be the first time a pope holds a mass inside the sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady of Charity, the patron saint of the island nation.

The foot-tall wooden statue is kept in an ivory-colored church with soaring red domes.

At El Cobre on Monday, Francis prayed for reconciliation among all Cubans, both at home and around the world. Francis arrived in the sanctuary shortly after landing in the nearby…

An estimated 2 million Cubans have left the island since the 1959 revolution with some 1.3 million now living overseas , a lot of them in the United States, where many exiles remain bitterly estranged from their homeland. He then stood and recited a prayer.

Upon his arrival in Washington, Francis will stay in the Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See – otherwise known as the Vatican’s Embassy in Washington- in the heart of Embassy Row, just across the street from the vice presidential mansion.