Archbishop Wenski Gets Standing O In Havana

HAVANA (AP) — During a sermon at the Cathedral in Havana Tuesday, Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski urged a “soft landing” from Marxism. The Mass was part of a special service in honor of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the island.

Wenski spoke to a packed audience of more than 300 mostly Cuban-American pilgrims who have come to Cuba, and they gave him a standing ovation. Many in the audience left Cuba as young children or are the sons and daughters of exiles.

Delivering his sermon in Spanish, Wenski said the pope and the Roman Catholic Church in Cuba desire a political transition that provides dignity to all Cubans.

“The pope and the Cuban Church want a transition that is dignified for the human being, dignified for the Cuban,” he said. “The church wants a soft landing … and a future of hope.”

Wenski spoke in favor of human rights and he also warned against the excesses of capitalism.

Andy Gomez, a senior political fellow at the University of Miami’s Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, was among those in the audience.

“He’s got courage,” Gomez said. “He talked about human rights, which the pope did not yesterday.”

The Mass was open, and a number of people wandered in toward the end of the service.