About 300 have signed up for the South Florida pilgrimage, but more reservations are expected aboard the Norwegian Majesty now that Cuba has finalized its decision to permit anchorage in Havana.
Permission for the cruise ship to enter Havana was one of several government concessions announced Saturday by the Catholic Church in Cuba. It also said the Cuban government had promised public transportation to worshipers and allowance for media coverage.
``Permits will be issued for the landing in Havana of direct flights from the United States and the arrival in Havana of the cruise ship with pilgrims . . . will be authorized,'' church spokesman Orlando Marquez said in a news release.
Pope John Paul II is scheduled to visit the island Jan. 21-25. It will be the first time the head of the Catholic church has gone to Cuba.
Peter Coats, a special assistant to Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Wenski, said Cuba's decision to welcome the South Florida pilgrimage would inspire relief and excitement.
``They understand the historical and spiritual importance of supporting freedoms of religion everywhere in the world, and of being with the Holy Father on this first visit to the church in Cuba,'' Coats said.
The cruise is not supported by all Catholics in South Florida, however.
Some Cuban exiles have strongly criticized the trip. The influential Cuban
American National Foundation supports the pope's decision to go to Cuba,
but is imploring exiles to stay home. Transportation
resolved
The Cuban government has rarely, if ever, given churches or other independent organizations access to the media, which is entirely state-run. The use of state transportation for an independent gathering is also highly unusual.
Three U.S. pilgrimages are scheduled to go to Havana. Catholics from Boston and New York will travel by air, while the larger Miami-based group, perhaps numbering 1,000, will arrive by ship.
Members of the South Florida contingent have paid $1,000 to $1,200 for their reservations, Coats said. Travelers would include church officials and worshipers.
Retired Miami Archbishop Edward McCarthy, who plans to make the trip, said the event may inspire Cuban Catholics long persecuted under Castro.
``Maybe we can provide a little encouragement to the prisoners,'' said McCarthy. ``As a result of this, maybe the two Cuban communities might grow a little closer.''
Church officials also said they're relieved that the Cuban government would provide public transportation, apparently a signal travelers would not be forced to walk the three miles from the dock to mass at the civic plaza.
``Transportation was going to be a serious problem for older folks,''
McCarthy said. Attendance not
discussed
The government had been giving mixed signals about whether it would welcome the Miami cruise ship.
Saturday's announcement made no mention of another church request -- that people be allowed time off from work to attend the Masses.
In recent weeks, the government has authorized a series of open-air Masses around Havana which the church is using to help prepare for the papal visit.
But the head of the party's religious affairs department, Caridad Diego, recently expressed concern to ``prevent public acts that could be politically motivated.''
The Cuban church also expressed hope Saturday that the papal visit would lead to even more liberty for religious activity.
In a pastoral letter given to reporters by Marquez, the Conference of Bishops said it hoped the papal visit would lead to more freedom of action. ``To comply with [its] mission in Cuba, it is necessary for the church to count on the media and indispensable spaces that permit it to preach openly of Jesus Christ.''
It also said the church has a role in promoting political as well as personal ethics, seeming to gently challenge the Communist Party's traditional monopoly in political affairs.
``The action of the church in society is not limited to the free exercise of worship,'' it said, asserting a role in spreading ethical values.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Copyright © 1997 The Miami Herald