Pope in Cuba urges change
SANTIAGO, Cuba – Pope Francis marked the anniversary Monday of the day he decided as a teenager to become a priest by pressing a subtle message to Cubans at a delicate point in their own history: Overcome ideological preconceptions and be willing to change.
Francis traveled to Cuba’s fourth-largest city, Holguin, and celebrated a Mass where Cuban rhythms mixed with church hymns under a scorching tropical sun.
Later in the day, he flew to Santiago for an evening visit to the shrine of Cuba’s patron saint, and today he will arrive in Washington for the U.S. leg of his first visit to the two former Cold War enemies.
Singing children and a small crowd waving Cuban and Vatican flags greeted Francis on his arrival, some crying out, “Francis! Holguin is with you!” Holguin’s Plaza of the Revolution was packed with an estimated 150,000 people for the Mass.
In his homily in Holguin, a city of about 300,000, Francis pressed some of the subtle themes he has developed during this balancing act of a Cuban visit. He told the crowd of how Jesus picked a lowly and despised tax collector, Matthew, and instructed him without casting judgment to follow him. That act of mercy changed Matthew forever.
Francis told the Cubans that they, too, should allow themselves “to slowly overcome our preconceptions and our reluctance to think that others, much less ourselves, can change.”
“Do you believe it is possible that a tax collector can be a servant?” he asked on the third day of his visit to the island. “Do you believe it is possible that a traitor can become a friend?”
It was a theme Francis sketched out Sunday night in an off-the-cuff encounter with young people. He encouraged them to dream big about what their life could be like, and not be “boxed in” by ideologies or preconceptions about others.
“If you are different than me, why don’t we talk?” Francis asked the crowd. “Why do we always throw rocks at that which separates us?”
Francis has emphasized themes of reconciliation and looking beyond prejudice and ideologies.
“Francis is looking for peace among peoples and countries,” said Yordani Monteagudo, a 24-year-old government worker who recorded Francis’ encounter with young people Sunday night and was still talking about it a day later. “In his message he called on young people to not be afraid to dream. This makes you want to live, and build up this country.”
Francis appeared to be in some discomfort walking; he has needed extra help getting up and down stairs during this trip, and the Vatican spokesman acknowledged Monday that the pontiff wasn’t moving around well. Francis suffers from sciatica and has a bad knee.