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Pope calls for an open society in Cuba

On his first visit to the island, fourteen years after John Paul II's visit, Benedict XVI also criticized abortion and sent his solidarity to political prisoners and their families.

Pope calls for an open society in Cuba (Photo: Desmond Boylan/REUTERS)

247 with international agencies – Tens of thousands of Cubans welcomed Pope Benedict XVI to Santiago de Cuba on Monday. Cubans crowded the city's main square to attend his first Mass on the island. The last papal visit to the country was fourteen years ago, with John Paul II.

"I wish to call upon you to give new vigor to your faith, to live from Christ and for Christ, and with the weapons of peace, forgiveness and understanding, to strive to build an open and renewed society, a better society, more worthy of man," Benedict XVI stated before more than 200 Cubans, many of whom had come from abroad.

The Mass celebrated the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the image of Our Lady of Charity of Cobre, patron saint of Cuba. However, the Pope took the opportunity to reinforce the defense of marriage and the family as the "fundamental cell of society," and asked to "welcome human life," especially "the most defenseless and needy," in an apparent criticism of abortion, which has been legal in Cuba since the beginning of the communist regime.

Pope Benedict XVI also dedicated his speech to "prisoners and their families." "I carry in my heart their sufferings and joys, as well as their concerns and their noblest aspirations, especially those of the young and the elderly, teenagers and children, the sick and workers, prisoners and their families, as well as the poor and needy," he stated. (With Efe and France-Presse)