05:50
p.m Dec 09, 1997 Eastern
By Frances
Kerry
HAVANA, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Pope John Paul will address Cubans on the theme of patriotism next month and will tell them there is no need for religion and love of country to be at odds, according to Cuban cardinal Jaime Ortega.
"Christian faith makes us love our brothers, our family, all human beings, how can it not make us love our country,'' Ortega said on Monday evening at an open-air mass in Havana's cathedral square.
The service, attended by several thousand people, was the last in a series of 13 preparatory masses the church has held in the Havana region ahead of the Pontiff's historic Jan. 21-25 visit to the communist-ruled island.
Ortega said the Pope would speak of patriotism at a mass in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba on Jan. 24, where he will also crown Cuba's Roman Catholic patron, the Virgin of Charity of Cobre.
"Love of God and love of one's country cannot be at odds,'' Ortega said, adding the occasion would be one to reaffirm "our Christian love and, as a Cuban people, our brotherly love between ourselves.''
The Santiago mass will be held in a square named after Antonio Maceo, a hero of Cuba's 19th century wars against Spanish colonial rule.
The Virgin of Cobre, whose shrine is at a small town 12 miles (20 km) outside Santiago, is strongly identified with Cuban independence.
Ortega's words appeared aimed at underlining the church's stance that it has a place alongside the communist establishment, and that place is patriotic.
Amid past strains between the church and state in Cuba, there have been official suggestions that church criticism of the political system, or church efforts to widen its territory, are unpatriotic.
This view stems from the stated view of President Fidel Castro's government that the one-party political system is the only political option if Cuba wants to remain independent.
By calling for love among all Cubans, Ortega was also reiterating the church's call for reconciliation among Cubans both on the island and in exile abroad.
Large Cuban and Vatican flags were hung from the wall opposite the cathedral in Havana's picturesque old quarter, flanking a portrait of the Pope. The mass began with a jaunty rendering of Cuba's national anthem.
Ortega touched on the themes the Pope will address in each city he visits, and said the Pontiff would talk about the family at a mass in the central city of Santa Clara on Jan. 22.
He indicated the Pontiff would have plenty of concerns over family values in Cuba.
Calling on Catholics to rediscover their sense of right and wrong, He said it was not good enough for a Cuban prostitute to give only vague justifications when asked why she had turned to prostitution with foreign tourists. And it was not right for an 18-year-old Cuban woman who has already had four abortions to be unaware of what she is doing, he said.
Ortega said the Pope would address the issue of young people during his visit to the central city of Camaguey on Jan. 23, and would deliver his final message at a mass in Havana's Revolution Square on Jan. 25.
The papal visit to Cuba, the only Spanish-speaking Latin American country the 77-year-old Pontiff has not yet visited, was agreed at an historic meeting with Castro, 71, at the Vatican in November last year.
That encounter marked a clear improvement in ties between the government and the Catholic church. But church concerns over issues such as church access to state media and transport of people to papal masses have shown that the authorities are still cautious in making concessions.REUTERS
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