Pope Benedict XVI Will Visit The Basilica of the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre on March 27, 2012

On March 27, 2012, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI will make a pilgrimage to the Basilica of the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre during the 400th Anniversary of the finding of the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre at the Bay of Nipe, near Santiago de Cuba.

The Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre has an inseparable presence in the religious culture of Cuba as the patron saint of the Cuban people.

All the cultural and religious manifestations of devotion have honored the Patron Saint and Mother of Cubans who acknowledge that her presence has developed our idiosyncracy, appreciating that the best of our national character traditionally affable, cordial and hospitable is derived from its maternal care and the educational force of Christian love.

Among the offerings and contributions, not only do we find symbols of the Cuban culture, we also find the celebrated American writer Ernest Hemingway who wanted to offer the medal which he was awarded for the Nobel Prize in Literature during the year 1956.

We all pray to the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre that Cubans be faithful to the Christian soul of our nation.

                                          Calendar Design Work by Cosme Proenza (detail)
©All Rights Reserved by the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba. www.iglesiacubana.org
Original translation from Spanish into English by GHung

A Catholic Seminary for Priests in Cuba

Cuban President Raul Castro has attended the inauguration of the first new Catholic building on the communist island in more than half a century.

Mr Castro joined priests, including Vatican officials, at a new seminary outside of the capital, Havana.

Ties between the Roman Catholic Church and state soured in the aftermath of the 1959 Cuban revolution.

Relations have eased in recent years and Church officials recently helped to broker the release of 52 dissidents.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church in Cuba, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, had warm words for Mr Castro and his brother Fidel during the opening of the new San Carlos and San Ambrosio seminary on Wednesday.

"In the name of the Church, I thank both the former president, as well as current President Raul Castro, who honours us with his presence, for the state's support of this work," Cardinal Ortega said.

The inauguration was also attended by senior Vatican officials and a group of bishops from the US, including Thomas Wenski, the Archbishop of Miami, which is the centre of the Cuban exile community.

Papal visit

The new seminary, where students will be trained for the priesthood, is a symbol of just how far Church-state relations have improved in recent years, says the BBC's Michael Voss in Havana.


Raul Castro turned to the Church to broker a deal over dissidents The original seminary was taken over by the Cuban authorities in 1966 and men wanting to become priests were forced to study at an old building in Havana.

After the 1959 revolution, many priests left Cuba and Fidel Castro declared the island an atheist state, although diplomatic ties with the Vatican were never severed.

The major turning point in relations came in 1998 when Pope John Paul II was permitted to visit Cuba.

Earlier this year, President Raul Castro, facing growing international pressure, turned to the Catholic Church to help arrange the release of 52 political prisoners.

Under the agreement, the government promised to free - by 8 November - 52 political prisoners imprisoned in 2003 after a crackdown on opposition activists, government critics and commentators.

So far, 39 have flown to Spain, along with members of their families. However, seven of the 13 dissidents still in prison have rejected the Church deal because they do not want to leave Cuba.

Cardinal Francis George Visits Cuba To Pray at the Shrine of Our Lady Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre

Cardinal Francis George visits Cuba
June 23, 2010|By Manya A. Brachear, Tribune reporter
Chicago's Cardinal Francis George arrived by private plane in Cuba on Wednesday to meet with local Roman Catholic parishioners and pray at a shrine for the island nation's patron saint.

Archbishop Dionisio Garcia Ibanez of Santiago, Cuba, invited George to his archdiocese after a visit to Chicago last year for a film premiere that raised money for humanitarian work in Chicago and Cuba.

George's trip will include a Mass at the Santiago cathedral and a visit to the national shrine of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre. Catholic Cubans in Chicago celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Charity on Sept. 8, with Mass at St. Ita in Chicago, St. Lambert in Skokie and Sacred Heart in Melrose Park.

AdvertisementColleen Dolan, communications director for the Chicago archdiocese, said the timing of the cardinal's visit had nothing to do with a recent five-day meeting in Havana between President Raul Castro and Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican's foreign minister.

The purpose of the visit is "not an analysis for the government life of the area," Dolan said. "He's interested in church life. There is a Catholic church in Cuba. That's what he's going to see."

But in recent months, Catholic bishops have had a number of successful negotiations with the Cuban government. Mamberti, for example, did not meet with dissidents during his visit. And shortly after a meeting between Cuba's Cardinal Jaime Ortega and Castro, Cuba transferred about a dozen political prisoners closer to their families.

Miguel De La Torre, professor of social ethics at Iliff School of Theology in Denver who specializes in Cuban religion and politics, said George's 24-hour pastoral visit could carry long-term significance.

"It is up to the religious leaders to begin to deal with the Judeo-Christian issue of reconciliation," De La Torre said. "One of the problems I have with the U.S. embargo of Cuba is it prevents U.S. citizens from mingling and talking to Cuban citizens. The quickest way to begin to melt this animosity is for the people to begin to talk to each other, and hopefully the government will be able to catch up."

mbrachear@tribune.com