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Icons at the Crossroads  |  Cuba and Catholicism  |  An Exile Returns
Testing the Embargo  |  Live Webcasts  |  The Struggling Revolution  |  Related links

Pope spurs hope in believers, non-believers alike

Rodolfo Bonachoa

January 22, 1998
Web posted at: 9:44 p.m. EST (0244 GMT)

From Correspondent Linda Pattillo

SANTA CLARA, Cuba (CNN) -- Rodolfo Bonachoa says he never thought he would see the day when he would attend a Mass, in Cuba, presided over by Pope John Paul II.

A Roman Catholic since he was a child, Bonachoa, now 64, worshipped at home in secret for the three decades when Cuba was officially atheist.

"I never stopped believing," he says. "I never stopped praying."

Bonachoa came to Thursday's papal Mass at Santa Clara on a bus provided by the Cuban government -- a palpable sign of the government's new attitude toward religious freedom.

Of the thousands who made the pilgrimage to Santa Clara, some attended the Mass because they are devout Catholics. Others came because the government asked them to attend. And many came simply because they wanted their children to witness history.

Not since the 1959 Cuban revolution has anyone other than Fidel Castro presided over a public gathering like this in Cuba.

Riana Rodriguez

Riana Rodriguez says she's a believer, too -- in the Cuban communist revolution. She is not a religious person, but she came to the pope's first Mass anyway. She sat not with the faithful, in the front rows, but on a small hill outside the stadium where the Mass was celebrated.

Like many of the communist party faithful, Rodriguez is looking to the pope help bring an end to the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba.

"I hope the pope will return us to many of our original ideas," says Riana, who does not think that John Paul will drive a wedge between the people and Castro. "We feel more united than ever today.

This week in Cuba, believers and non-believers may be hoping for different things, but they are all looking to the pope to help make those things happen.

Follow the Pope's visit day-by-day:   Day 1  |  Day 2  |  Day 3  |  Day 4  |  Day 5

Icons at the Crossroads  |  Cuba and Catholicism  |  An Exile Returns
Testing the Embargo  |  Live Webcasts  |  The Struggling Revolution  |  Related links

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