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Posted on 09/21/2015 6:11:59 PM PDT by BlatherNaut
BOSTON -- Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley spoke with The Pilot, Sept. 20, after Pope Francis celebrated a Mass at Revolution Square -- in Havana.
The cardinal described the scene as Cubans, pilgrims from Boston, and others gathered for the third papal Mass the cardinal has seen in Cuba, but the first since the beginning of the normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba.
"Today we had the privilege and the joy to attend Pope Francis' Mass in Havana in the Plaza de la Revolución under the picture of his fellow Argentine Che Guevara. Hundreds of thousands of people from Cuba, and from beyond, gathered with the Holy Father for this great event," Cardinal O'Malley said.
Cardinal O'Malley has travelled to Cuba multiple times over the past thirty years. During that time he saw many changes for the nation and Catholics there. Having seen three papal visits, he said each held great significance in the life of the Church, beginning with the visit of Pope St. John Paul II in 1998, which the cardinal called "a watershed mark" in the history of the Church in Cuba.
"It won for the Church a certain amount of space to be able to once again minister to God's people," he said.
The cardinal said the visit of Pope Benedict further opened doors for the Church in Cuba.
"Catholics would be allowed to celebrate Christmas again," he said.
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He called Pope Francis' visit after the beginning of the normalization of relations between the U.S. and Cuba "an extraordinary moment."
"I have never seen the Cuban people exude as much hope and enthusiasm as you see today in Cuba," the cardinal said.
The cardinal said the Mass in Revolution Square was short for a papal Mass, but potent in message and themes of service, compassion, reconciliation, care for each other, and a challenge for people to overcome their own ambitions in order to serve others.
"The comments of Cardinal Ortega were also very beautiful calling for peace and reconciliation. There is a history of great tensions and difficulties, but only through forgiveness and reconciliation will the Cuban people be able to come together again and be at peace with their neighbors," Cardinal O'Malley said.
"The Mass was most moving, and I was so happy to be able to be here with a wonderful group of people from Boston."
Below is the full transcript of Cardinal O'Malley's statement:
Today we had the privilege and the joy to attend Pope Francis' Mass in Havana in the Plaza de la Revolución under the picture of his fellow Argentine "Che" Guevara. Hundreds of thousands of people from Cuba, and from beyond, gathered with the Holy Father for this great event.
I have been coming to Cuba for thirty years, and during that time I have seen many, many changes.
I have been here for three papal visits. All of them have been very significant in the life of the Church here, beginning with the visit of St. John Paul II, which really was a watershed mark in the history of the Church in Cuba. It won for the Church a certain amount of space to be able to once again minister to God's people.
The visit of Pope Benedict was also an important visit, and certain concessions were made. Catholics would be allowed to celebrate Christmas again.
But with Pope Francis' visit, particularly after the beginning of the normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba, this has been an extraordinary moment. I have never seen the Cuban people exude as much hope and enthusiasm as you see today in Cuba.
The Mass was by standards of papal Masses short. The Holy Father's message was a very beautiful one, typical of the themes of service, compassion, reconciliation, care for each other, a challenge of people to overcome their own ambitions, to serve others.
The comments of Cardinal Ortega were also very beautiful calling for peace and reconciliation. There is a history of great tensions and difficulties, but only through forgiveness and reconciliation will the Cuban people be able to come together again and be at peace with their neighbors.
And so, it was an extraordinary event. The Mass was most moving, and I was so happy to be able to be here with a wonderful group of people from Boston.
Castro and the members of his brutal, murdering regime have spent their entire careers imprisoning, torturing and killing Catholics who did not renounce their faith. That Pope Francis would honor Castro at the same time Castro's thugs were arresting Catholic dissidents who tried to see the Pope is the height of hypocrisy and moral weakness.
The Cardinal may admire Che Guevara. But if he had met Che when he was alive the Cardinal would most likely have been tortured and killed. Maybe if he renounced his faith and swore allegiance to Communism and the Castro regime he might have survived.
This Pope serves another Master.
I’m surprised the Comrade Pope and Comrade Cardinal didn’t nominate the Castro Brothers and Che for Sainthood. Think of their contributions to humanity by draining the blood from prisoners before they were executed or assisting citizens to meet their maker on an accelerated schedule. Miracles, just ask about how they could make citizens disappear, disavow their families or denounce their religion in favor of communism .... yes, real miracle makers.
When Comrade Pope visits Philadelphia, do you think he will visit the Kermit Gosnell Womens Health Facility (aka The Gosnell Abortion Butcher Shop) to shake some holy water around and praise the city and state for their concern for “womens health”?
Yet. Who knows what else these MERCIFUL leftists have up their sleeves?
That should be, "the picture of his (Francis') fellow Argentinian communist, Che Guevara.
Once again, O'Malley is a member of Francis' Gang o' Nine and has been personally selected by Francis to attend the pope's upcoming Synod for Sin.
Che, by the way, divorced his first wife when he "fell in love" with another woman and "married" her.
He should be presented by O'Malley as a prime example, for Kasper's and Francis' argument for "catholic divorce".
Pope Pius XII even before his Papacy denounced the Nazis. Certainly His Holiness never went to Nazi Germany to embrace Hitler in a “friendly and familiar” encounter.
Either as Archbishop Bergoglio or as Pope, Francis never denounced the crimes of the Cuban Stalinist regime. Francis have expressed his high regard for the most brutal tyranny in the history of this hemisphere, to the extreme of bragging before going to the Holy Land that he considered himself to be the Che Guevara of Palestine people.
During his trip to the island prison Francis did not incited the Cuban youth to create “líos” (to mess up, to revolt) as he did to the youth in a trip to Brazil just after been elected Pope.
In Cuba Francis called for reconciliation but he did not meet with the dissidents, the real representatives of the enslaved Cuban people, whose demand freedom and respect for the human and civil rights have been ignored by the rest of the world for more than 55 years. Making a mockery of the Pope visit, the regime imprisoned all the leaders of the democratic dissidence during Francis stay in Cuba.
Where is Benedict? Locked up in some St. Peter’s closet, gagged?
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