Cardinal tells Cubans of pope's hope for renewed evangelization

Published: 2008-02-22

HAVANA (CNS) -- At a meeting with Cuban bishops and an open-air Mass, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state and the highest-ranking Catholic Church representative to visit Cuba in the past 10 years, said he hoped his visit would help advance church-state relations. Cardinal Bertone conveyed to the bishops and Cuban Catholics a message from Pope Benedict XVI, expressing the pontiff's "ardent goal of renewing the true evangelizing impulse" that Pope John Paul II left "deeply ingrained in the hearts of all" in January 1998. He also expressed the pope's "esteem ... for your tireless pastoral efforts, as well as my closeness to the aspirations and concerns of all Cubans." Cardinal Bertone arrive in Cuba Feb. 20, a day after President Fidel Castro announced his resignation. On Feb. 21, he celebrated the outdoor Mass and met with the bishops, the first items on an itinerary that was to keep him in Cuba until Feb. 26.

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