Pope John Paul II's trip to Cuba last month may turn the pontiff into ``a megaphone'' who will focus world attention on communist abuses on the island, a conservative U.S. Catholic theologian said Friday in Miami.

More than 19 years apart, John Paul's first visit as Pope to his native Poland in 1979 and his five-day visit to Cuba may prove very different, Michael Novak told a seminar spon
A theologian has noted that John Paul's message to Cubans was similar to the one he gave Poles when he visited Poland in 1979. He told them not to be afraid, and those words brought `transparency to the government.'

sored by the Friedrich Hayek Latin American University of Freedom.

But the pontiff gave Cubans the same message he gave Poles -- ``Be not afraid'' -- and brought them the same world focus that years back blocked Polish authorities from continuing to repress opponents in silence, he added.

``The Pope became a megaphone, so that the Polish government could no longer beat up priests and dissidents,'' Novak added. ``The church brought transparency to the government . . . and protection to the critics.''

U.S. Rep Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, agreed on some of the parallels between the Pope's Poland and Cuba trips, but cautioned that there were also many differences:

Cuba's church is much weaker than Poland's under communism; the Cuban opposition is more harshly persecuted; President Fidel Castro is more personal and powerful in his leadership; and neither Ronald Reagan nor Margaret Thatcher are around now to demand democracy for the ``evil empire.''

John Paul's trip to Cuba may eventually have a strong impact, the congresswoman added. ``The seeds have been planted. But time must elapse before they bear fruit.''