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March 27th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
The crowd of an estimated 200,000 sang hymns, some joining their arms held
high. Others folded their hands in prayer, listening intently to the pope’s
words. One worshipper waved a banner reading “It is good to trust the
Lord.”
The pontiff is working to try to expand the flock in Cuba, which was
officially atheist until the early 1990s.
“I carry in my heart the just aspirations and legitimate desires of all
Cubans, wherever they may be, their sufferings and their joys, their
concerns and their noblest desires,” the pope said earlier in
southeastern Santiago.
“I am convinced that Cuba, at this moment of particular importance in
its history, is already looking to the future, and thus is striving to renew
and broaden its horizons.”
Marxism “no longer corresponds to reality,” Benedict said last week
as he set off on his first trip to Spanish-speaking nations in Latin
America, calling for “new models” in Cuba.
Cuba’s leadership however says democracy already exists here, and rejects the
idea of a western multiparty system.
Before the mass, Benedict rolled in his white Mercedes Popemobile down the
streets of Santiago, as crowds of enthusiastic Cubans waved yellow and white
Vatican and Cuban blue, white and red flags to greet him.
“Cuba has good relations with all religious institutions in our country,”
Castro said as he welcomed the pope.
Authorities meanwhile have rounded up at least 150 dissidents in the past few
days to thwart any possible demonstrations during the two-city papal visit,
the head of an opposition group told AFP in Havana.
On Tuesday, Benedict was to visit the Our Lady of Charity shrine outside
Santiago, and then fly to Havana, before celebrating Mass in its sprawling
Revolution Square on Wednesday.
John Paul II’s 1998 trip was the first papal visit to Cuba. Expectations were
high then that the charismatic Polish pontiff might help spark change in
Cuba after decades of centrally-run government, economy and media.
He did indeed help start a steady thaw, and then co-operation, in local
Catholic relations with the Cuban government.
But more than a decade later, despite John Paul II’s calls for Cuba to “open
up to the world,” the country remains isolated, its economy still
centrally planned and feeble. Most Cubans earn less than $20.00 a month.
The Catholic church has nonetheless emerged as the most important non-state
actor in Cuba, even mediating prisoner releases. But it does not have its
own media or school systems as it would like.
Benedict has no plans to meet with members of the Cuban opposition.
The pope “knows the Cuban reality” and whether “he meets with
the opponents or not does not mean he is unaware” of their situation,
Archbishop Dionisio Garcia of Santiago Garcia said Saturday.
“Pushing hard and insisting on (Benedict) meeting with the Ladies in
White (or other dissidents) could complicate matters for the Church,”
added Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue in
Washington.
“It is very difficult. And they have to strike this balance. … They
don’t want to jeopardise the gains” the Church has made in recent
years, he added.
Cuba’s Catholics account for about 10 per cent of the country’s population of
11 million. Evangelical Protestants are making inroads here, but most Cubans
identify most with AfroCuban belief systems, such as Santeria and Palo
Monte.
Source: agencies
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