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 Massive
Welcome to Benedict XVI in Santiago de Cuba
SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba, Mar 26
(acn) The people of the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba
warmly welcomed Pope Benedict XVI at his arrival for his
three-day long apostolic journey to Cuba.
Since early
morning thousands of Cubans gathered in the city’s streets
to have a chance to pay their respects to His Holiness who
travelled the 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the airport to the
Archbishopric riding his popemobile and waving to the
crowds.
The city’s inhabitants and visitors carried small Cuban and
Vatican flags,
and expressed the joy they were feeling through this unique
experience.
Believers and non-believers, together, took to the streets
to give a warm
welcome to the “Pilgrim of Charity” as Benedict XVI is
called during this,
the second journey of a Pope to Cuba, after John Paul II´s
in 1998.
This apostolic journey is within the framework of the
celebrations for the
Jubilee Year that marks the 400th anniversary of the finding
of the image
of Our Lady of Charity, which Cuban Catholics consider the
country’s
Patron Saint.
This afternoon, His Holiness will celebrate a two-hour Holy
Mass in the
Antonio Maceo Revolution Square, which was fitted out for
the event.
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