Pope Francis arrived in Havana Saturday afternoon to great fanfare at the beginning of a 10-day journey to Cuba and the United States.
Jubilant crowds welcomed history’s first Latin American pope, 73, to the island nation after he landed aboard an Alitalia flight from Rome. Applause and chants of anticipation could be heard as the airplane, with the Cuban and Vatican flags billowing above the cockpit, slowed to a halt on the runway.
Francis, an Argentine Jesuit, has been critical of both what he perceives to be the extremes of American capitalism and the atheism of Cuba’s revolution. But he also enjoys popularity in both countries, neither of which he had visited before.
Cubans laud the Argentine Jesuit for helping to restore diplomatic relations between the historically hostile countries. Last year, he personally appealed to U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro to end the half-century of enmity.
Then Francis, addressing the crowd, praised the progress made by the U.S. and Cuba, saying it could serve as an example of reconciliation for the entire world.
“For some months now, we have witnessed an event which fills us with hope,” Francis said,“ the process of normalizing relations between two peoples following years of estrangement.”
Yahoo News
Hakuna maoni:
Chapisha Maoni