In Mexico and Cuba, papal trip
to highlight local and regional issues
By Francis X. Rocca
VATICAN CITY, March 9 (CNS) -- Pope Benedict's trip to Mexico and Cuba March 23-28 will be a relatively brief one, consisting of a little more than two days in each country. Yet his visit is bound to highlight a wide range of prominent issues affecting an entire continent of crucial importance to the Catholic Church.
The Pope arrives in Leon, in central Mexico, late afternoon local time, on March 23. His first full day's schedule will be light, no doubt reflecting concerns for the health of the Pope, who turns 85 April 16. Pope Benedict's flight will have taken him across eight time zones, to a city 6,000 feet above sea level (compared to only 70 in Rome).
[In fact, there is more than 24 hours between the Pope's arrival in Leon and his first official event the next day.]
On the evening of March 24, the Pope will meet with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who has served as head of state since December 2006. His administration has been marked by a violent struggle between the military and the country's drug cartels, a topic that will presumably arise in discussions between the two men.
The next day, Pope Benedict will address bishops from Mexico and across Latin America at a vespers service in Leon's Cathedral of Our Most Holy Mother of Light. Here he is likely to touch on some of the issues that he raised on his only other Latin American trip, in 2007, when he spoke to the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean in Aparecida, Brazil.
At that time, the Pope urged church leaders to struggle against poverty and oppression but to shun direct involvement in partisan politics -- an echo of his long-standing critique of the liberation theology movement, which grew from Latin American roots.
Pope Benedict also warned then against the danger of syncretism, or the blending of religions, by those who adopt elements of indigenous traditions in their Catholic devotions -- a practice that the Pope also denounced on his trip in November to the West African country of Benin.
The context and timing of this year's speech will likely affect the content of Pope Benedict's message to the Latin American bishops.
Mexico is historically a highly polarized country on religious questions. The country's 1910 revolution was heavily anticlerical, and the 1917 constitution forbade religious education and even the public display of clerical garb. Such measures sparked the Cristero Rebellion in the late 1920s, when conflict between Catholic rebels and government forces left as many as 90,000 dead.
The country remains a mix of highly assertive secular and religious traditions, making it potentially fertile ground for the new evangelization that Pope Benedict has made a priority of his pontificate, and which will be the theme of a Vatican synod of bishops this October.
Cuba, where the pope goes March 26, is in a sense the mirror image of Mexico. It's a country where the Catholic Church has enjoyed relatively tranquil dealings with the civil authorities; diplomatic relations with the Holy See have never been interrupted, even by the institution of a communist government in the 1960s; but religious practice has traditionally been as feeble as anywhere in Latin America.
Church officials estimate that only about 2.5 percent of Cuba's population of 11 million can be considered practicing Catholics today, a fraction of the proportion prior to the revolution, though it represents a significant rise since the visit of Pope John Paul in 1998.
The Church in Cuba continues to operate under severe restrictions, unable to build new churches or legally operate schools. However, the role of Cardinal Jaime Ortega of Havana and other Cuban bishops in successfully negotiating for the release of more than 100 political prisoners in 2010 reflects the government's growing respect for church authority.
Pope Benedict will no doubt raise issues of religious and political freedom with President Raul Castro when they meet on March 27. The Pope is also widely expected to meet with the President's brother, former President Fidel Castro, although no such encounter yet appears on his official schedule.
The main reason for Pope Benedict's trip is a pilgrimage to the shrine of the Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, the country's patron saint, in the southeastern city of Santiago. This year marks the 400th anniversary of the miraculous appearance of the statue venerated at the basilica there.
[It was not an 'appearance'. Fishermen found the statue floating in the bay.]
Congregation for saints approves
'heroic virtues' of 18th-century Cuban priest
Vatican City, Mar 8, 2012 (CNA) - The Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of the Saints has approved a decree on the heroic virtues of Cuban priest Father Felix Varela, moving him one step closer to being declared “venerable.”
“The vote of the commission of cardinals and bishops was positive, and that means that now the prefect of the congregation of saints has to go to the Pope for his authorization to proclaim the decree on heroic virtues,” explained Brother Rodolfo Meoli, the postulator of the cause for Fr. Felix's beatification.
Cardinal Angelo Amato, who heads the congregation, presided over the plenary meeting and vote which took place in Rome on March 6.
In an interview with CNA on March 7, Br. Meoli said it is uncertain when Pope Benedict will approve the decree, but many think it will take place during the pontiff's March 25-28 trip to Cuba.
“I am thinking of calling Cardinal Amato to meet soon and find out if he plans to present the documentation before the Pope’s visit to Cuba,” he said.
“Generally, when the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints presents a decree to the Pope, he usually presents other decrees as well, and this can cause a delay.”
Br. Meoli said that as soon as the announcement about Fr. Varela’s heroic virtues was made, he called Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino of Havana.
He also called Bishop Felipe de Jesus Estevez of St. Augustine in Florida, where Fr. Varela died, and Bishop Anthony DiMarzio of Brooklyn – vice postulator of the cause – where the Cuban priest lived for many years.
“I am very happy,” Br. Meoli said. “Everyone responded with great enthusiasm hoping that the Pope will proclaim Felix Varela venerable when he goes to Havana.”
Felix Varela Morales was born in Havana on November 20, 1788. He was orphaned at a young age and was raised by his grandparents. At the age of 23, he was ordained a priest and devoted himself to teaching.
In 1821 he was elected to represent of the Spanish colony of Cuba before the government of Madrid. He left for Spain that year, never imagining that he would never again return to Cuba.
Fr. Varela made three proposals to the Spanish crown that would lead to his exile. He called for the abolition of slavery, for Cuban independence and for self-rule for the colonies in the Caribbean.
With the outbreak of Absolutism in Spain in 1823, Varela fled Madrid and was denied entry into Cuba. He was forced to settle in New York, where he worked as a pastor and eventually as vicar general. He continued speaking out and writing for the defense of human rights and freedom for Cuba.
His poor health forced him to move to St. Augustine, Florida, where he spent the last four years of his life. He died on February 25, 1853.
Br. Meoli emphasized that the priest's dedication to politics “should be understood within the context of his vocation to the service of God and to his homeland.”
He also observed that Fr. Varela could serve as an important figure of unity between Cuba and the United States, which are locked in an ideological conflict.
“From the spiritual point of view, he is on both sides,” he said. While he was in Cuba, Fr. Varela worked as a philosopher, educator and writer. While in New York, “he worked to defend Catholicism from the Protestant majority.”
Fr. Varela additionally played a key role in teaching the faith to immigrants. “He kept them in the faith. He founded churches, orphanages and schools, and he was devoted to ministry for the poor, the uneducated and the marginalized,” Br. Meoli said.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 13/03/2012 01:12]