MADRID, Spain.- After 28 years of Christmas being prohibited in Cuba, just as the regime had eliminated it from Cuban traditions, it restored it, from one day to the next.
In Cuba, Christmas was no longer officially celebrated in 1969, because for Fidel Castro this festivity did not correspond “with the nation’s own traditions”; In addition, at this time of year it was necessary to “take advantage of the sugar harvest.”
In 1997, on the eve of the visit of Pope John Paul II to Cuba, scheduled for January 1998, Castro declared December 25 a holiday. Although at that moment he indicated that it would be “exceptional” due to the historic visit of the pontiff, that day is still kept as a national holiday and Cubans, although very precarious for many, have Christmas dinner without hiding, as many did during the years it was banned.
Pope John Paul II was on the Island from January 21 to 25, 1998. During his stay in Cuba he visited Havana, Santa Clara, Camagüey and Santiago de Cuba; and he offered masses in each of these provinces. The last one was in the Plaza de la Revolución, in the presence of Castro and around a million people.
In his words pronounced on the Island, John Paul II addressed issues such as human rights, family, childhood, abortion and poverty; just as he expressed that “Cuba should open up to the world with all its magnificent possibilities.”
This was the first visit of a Pope to the Island. Between March 22 and 26, 2012, Benedict XVI traveled to Cuba, and between September 19 and 20, 2015, Pope Francis did.
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