Pontiff calls for `new paths' in Cuba

Herald Staff Report

HAVANA -- Interrupted repeatedly by chants of ``Libertad! Libertad!'' Pope John Paul II preached freedom and change Sunday to hundreds of thousands gathered at the Plaza de la Revolucion for the last Mass of his historic visit to Cuba.

Looking on stoically was President Fidel Castro, who had never witnessed such a multitude gathered in that square to cheer someone other than himself -- and probably had never heard so much criticism.

The pontiff delivered a stirring 40-minute homily, saying that atheism cannot be part of a modern state, arguing that personal freedom is the only way to achieve justice, and calling for pluralism and reforms.

``This is the time to start out on the new paths called for by the times of renewal which we are experiencing,'' said the Polish-born pontiff, who played a key role in helping to bring down communism in Eastern Europe.

The crowd couldn't get enough. Twenty-eight times they interrupted him with applause, cheers and mushrooming chants of ``Libertad! Libertad!'' -- ``Freedom! Freedom!'' -- that brought the first tense moments to the pope's visit. Another chant: ``The pope, he's free, and wants us free!''

Castro loyalists tried to drown out the cries of ``Freedom!'' with chants of ``Long live the pope!'' as dour-looking government security agents in black shirts surveyed the crowd.

Many of those present were surprised by the looming conflict, whispering and gasping, their eyes wide. Several said they feared the chants would get out of hand and that state security agents would pounce on those who were shouting.

``Listen, I want to go home without any problems,'' one man told a journalist. Added Marco Torres Leon, a 35-year-old human rights worker in the crowd: ``You can feel the fear. The power is with those who have the force.''

One woman carrying a handmade placard that read ``Down with the Castro Brothers' dictatorship'' was seen being directed to an exit by security guards. A burly man later took away the placard and ripped it up.

Part of a metal barrier holding back the throng toppled as the popemobile drove into the plaza, but authorities said victims suffered only slight injuries, and the Mass ended without incident.

`Positive dialogue' urged

In his final hours in Havana, the pope urged Cuban bishops to work with Cuban exiles to avoid ``futile confrontation'' and instead help foster ``a climate of positive dialogue and mutual understanding.''

Still later, just before John Paul boarded his Alitalia jetliner for the flight back to Rome, he issued his harshest condemnation yet of the U.S. trade embargo, branding it ``unjust and ethically unacceptable,'' and calling for its reconsideration.

But it was the pope's criticisms of the Castro government that marked his five-day visit to the West's last bastion of communism, triggering rumors that Castro might either crack down or offer new concessions to an emboldened Cuban Church.

``Do you remember that John Reed book about the Bolshevik Revolution, Ten Days That Shook the World? Well, we can call this `Five Days That Shook Cuba,' '' said Enrique Lopez Oliva, a University of Havana religion professor.

To catch the pope's last Mass, some Havana residents showed up long before dawn. Two hours before he arrived, the crowd gathered beneath a somber, gray sky and sang: ``Come with us. We're waiting for a friend. He will bring us hope, reconciliation.''

As daylight lit the huge plaza, it filled faster and faster, with many arriving by bus, truck and on foot. Some even biked in from Pinar del Rio, 100 miles west of Havana, for lack of mass transportation.

Crowd estimates vary

News media estimates of the crowd ranged from 200,000 to nearly one million. Witnesses said the plaza -- which the government has always maintained holds one million people -- was nearly filled.

As in previous days, the pontiff's homily was almost overshadowed by his remarkable interplay with the audience. At one point, he joked with the crowd, ``You are a very active audience. . . . I'm not finished yet. I have one more page.''

Interrupted by long applause, the 77-year-old pontiff looked amused and said: ``I'm not against applause. Applause gives the pope a chance to rest a moment.''

Roman Catholics stood side by side with the curious and with Communist Party members ordered to attend. According to Castro, party members' attendance was a sign of respect for the visitor; according to dissidents, it was a means of intimidating government opponents in the audience.

Dressed in a dark suit, Castro sat with acclaimed Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, members of the Communist Party's inner Political Bureau and Caridad Diego, head of the party's office of religious affairs, in a virtual socialist tableau.

But elsewhere, the plaza stood transformed. An eight-story image of Jesus on the National Library was the backdrop for a flower-bedecked papal stage that looked like a white dove with its wings spread.

Different music

Unlike previous Masses in the provincial capitals of Santa Clara, Camaguey and Santiago de Cuba, all of which had strong traditional Cuban music and themes, Sunday's Mass was imbued with a classical touch by an orchestra and formal choir.

Even before the pope ascended to the stage, cries rang out of ``Long live the pope!'' and ``Long live Cuba!''

Gladys Perez Suarez, 64, brought photographs of her three children, including her daughter in Miami. She prayed for the coming together of all Cubans and hoped that her nation could remain at peace.

``I don't think things will change in the material sense,'' she said, ``but the Holy Spirit is now here, and our hope as Christians is that things improve peacefully, without any blood or war or anything like that.''

In his homily, John Paul thanked Castro for helping with the logistics of his visit to Cuba, drawing only light applause, and issued an attack on ``neo-liberal capitalism'' that the Cuban leader had clearly awaited.

Such a radically unfettered economic system, the pope said, subjugates humans ``to blind market forces'' and places ``unbearable burdens upon less favored countries.''

Gap between rich and poor

In a veiled attack on such institutions as the International Monetary Fund, the pope decried ``unsustainable economic programs'' that impose harsh economic reforms on countries and lead to ``the wealthy growing ever wealthier while the poor grow ever poorer.''

But, as in previous days, the bulk of the pope's remarks hammered Castro's Marxist-Leninist government, urging ``a harmonious social climate and suitable legislation'' to guarantee religious freedom as well as personal liberation.

``This liberation cannot be reduced to its social and political aspects, but rather it reaches its fullness in the exercise of freedom of conscience, the basis and foundation of all other human rights,'' he said, drawing prolonged cheering.

Standing in the crowd, Maritza Lugo, a human rights activist defying a house arrest order to attend the Mass, wore a white T-shirt that read ``Don't be afraid'' -- a message repeated by the pope several times during his visit.

But fear is an emotion Cubans have a hard time shaking. Lugo looked over her shoulder, checking for security agents as she talked with reporters and handed out photographs of political prisoners.

As the Mass neared its end, the shouts of ``Freedom!'' died down, and the pontiff called on all to embrace their neighbors with the ``Greeting of Peace.'' Castro, smiling broadly, stood and warmly embraced several of those around him, including Caridad Diego.

It marked the second time Castro has attended Mass in the plaza. On Nov. 29, 1959 -- just 11 months after he took power -- Castro attended a Mass called by the National Catholic Congress.

A first for Castro

But Sunday's papal Mass clearly marked the first time Castro ever endured sitting by while so many members of a huge crowd expressed such clear disenchantment with his rule after 39 years in power.

The Mass was broadcast live nationwide by Cuban government television -- the fourth Mass in which Cubans have watched John Paul barrage the nation with calls for more respect for human rights and more freedom for the church.

As the pope flew back to Rome, National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon told CNN that the Cuban government is ``considering'' John Paul's request for the release of several prisoners, but denied that Cuba holds any political prisoners.

``We agree with him that no one should be jailed for reasons of conscience, [but] . . . we don't have any of those types of prisoners,'' Alarcon said, adding that the legislature is considering laws that would guarantee freedom of religion.

Words of caution

Some Cubans offered cautionary notes about the impact of the pope's historic trip or voiced concern that the joy the pontiff brought would quickly fade away.

``It's not that he dares to say these things. He can do it because he was given permission to do it by Fidel. Let's not forget that,'' said Carlos Garcia, 52, a retired textile worker.

A woman physician who drives a taxi two days a week to make ends meet said, ``Now that the pope is going, what are we Cubans going to do? It's a subject everyone talks about but nobody does anything about.''