Cardinal Jaime Ortega, Cuba's highest ranking churchman, joined the procession and later said Mass in the church that bears the saint's name. Sept. 8 is the Virgin of Charity's feast day.
She also is revered here by practitioners of Santeria, who identify her with the Afro-Cuban religion's deity Ochun.
According to church tradition, the Virgin of Charity appeared in eastern Cuba in the Bay of Nipe near Santiago in 1628 to Rodrigo and Juan de Hoyos, brothers of mixed white and black heritage, and Juan Moreno, a black boy of about 10.
Other versions say all three witnesses were named Juan and that one was white, one was black and one was mixed -- reflecting Cuba's racial makeup.
Struggling in a storm-tossed boat, they heard a voice declare ``I am the Virgin of Charity.'' Across the waves they spied a wooden board carrying a statue of the Virgin Mary, dressed in a yellow gown and depicted as mixed black and white.
In her left arm, she carried a mixed-race baby Jesus. In her right hand, she held a cross.
What are said to be the same statue and board remain on display in a basilica built in the saint's honor in the town of Cobre, just outside Santiago.
© Copyright 1999 The Associated Press