Cuba commemorates Pope John Paul II's birthdate

 

CIEGO DE ÁVILA, Cuba, May 18 (ACN) The birth of Pope John Paul II’s birth on May 18, 1920, was remembered in the province of Ciego de Avila with the announcement of an upcoming book by the Cuban peasant, professor and writer Fernando Diaz Martinez dedicated to the former church leader’s life and works.

Titled John Paul II, Un hombre sin fronteras (John Paul II, a man without borders), Diaz Martinez’s 180-page book makes reference to His Holiness as a human being and man of faith from his origins until his death on April 2, 2005, as well as to his friendship with Commander in Chief Fidel Castro and his visit to Cuba in 1998.

Omar Martínez Arcia, who was in charge of Religious Affairs in the Provincial Committee of the Party for 25 years, praised the book’s references to the Pope’s visit to the Island, a great event that those in their twenties could not witness, and pointed out that Fidel spared no effort to make the guest feel good and help him get acquainted with the Cubans, be they believers or otherwise.

Karol Józef Wojtyła, born in Wadowice, Poland, was the 264th Pope of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from October 16, 1978 until his death. His unprecedented visit to Cuba from January 21 to 25, 1998 included four masses in different cities across the Island. In the last of them, held in Havana and attended by Cuban President Fidel Castro and hundreds of thousands of people, his first words were, “Cuba, my friend, the Pope is with you!”