Fourteen years later, Pope Benedict comes to a nation celebrating the fruits of that first visit, a country with a more stable Christian community. The Holy See Press Office reports that the Pope's official visit offers "hope for Cubans, who feel they are on the threshold of what is potentially a new epoch, in which John Paul II's words on the reciprocal openness of Cuba and the world may be realized in a climate of development, freedom and reconciliation."
Three years ago, in anticipation of the Jubilee, the bishops of Cuba organized a nation-wide procession, bringing Our Lady of Charity into every province. Mary's beloved image was carried in procession outdoors from community to community to the delight of the Cuban people, and no doubt, to the delight of Mary herself. Everywhere that Mary went, she brought Jesus—the God-man who not only brings a joyful message of new life, but identifies that suffering and death in life may be united to his glory.
Bishop Emilio Aranguren of the Diocese of Holguin, home of the Shrine to Our Lady of Charity, explains, "The pilgrimage throughout Cuba demonstrates that Cuba is not atheist. In this, the Jubilee Year, the mission of the Church is to demonstrate that Cuba is Christian."
The theme of this procession and the Jubilee is "A Jesús por María: La Caridad nos une" or "To Jesus through Mary: Charity Unites Us."
The nuance in Spanish becomes more powerful with the play on words with charity also meaning love, but the message remains strong in English: Our Lady of Charity will unite us—specifically, the Cuban nation that has been split in the post-revolutionary diaspora.
Pope Benedict's prayer at the Shrine on Tuesday captures the pathos of this separation:
Let all those you meet know, whether near or far, that I have entrusted to the Mother of God the future of your country, advancing along the ways of renewal and hope, for the greater good of all Cubans. I have also prayed to the Virgin for the needs of those who suffer, of those who are deprived of freedom, those who are separated from their loved ones or who are undergoing times of difficulty. (Words of his Holiness Benedict XVI, El Cobre, Steps of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Charity, Tuesday, March 27, 2012)
Pope Benedict's homily in Santiago de Cuba resonates with all of us, regardless of the country we call home:
Dear brothers and sisters, before the gaze of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, I appeal to you to reinvigorate your faith, that you may live in Christ and for Christ, and armed with peace, forgiveness and understanding, that you may strive to build a renewed and open society, a better society, one more worthy of humanity, and which better reflects the goodness of God. Amen. (Benedict XVI, Homily, Holy Mass for the 400th Anniversary of the discovery of the image of the "Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre," Santiago de Cuba, March 26, 2012)
More than reuniting the hearts of Cubans under the loving mantle of Our Lady of Charity, Mary's universal motherhood seeks to unite all her children and bring them closer to her Son.
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