By Tom Tracy - Florida Catholic
Photographer: TOM TRACY | FC
Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Cuba, at their residence near Miramar in Havana, said religion has come a long way since the first papal visit in 1998.
The day after the pope�s Mass here, in a 100-year-old home in the Miramar section of Havana, the Sisters of the Society of the Sacred Heart reflected on the visit of the pope to Cuba and how it came during a transitional period on the island. They also met with some of the American visitors who came for the papal visit and brought them gifts and supplies for daily living.
�The most impressive thing for me was when the pope called for some moments of silence after his homily so everybody can reflect on what he had just said,� said Sister Ada Martinez. �It was a moment that everybody took those words in to their heart. The people were in a profound silence and gave great attention. They were really praying, you could see it on their faces.�
A native of Cuba, Sister Martinez attended a Sacred Heart elementary school here and made her novitiate in New York, returning to Cuba at the age of 49 after assignments in seven other places. She has been in Cuba for the past 21 years.
She drew some differences with the visit of the late Pope John Paul II in 1998.
�His visit in 1998 was really a kind of explosion in which the people saw something new. This visit comes at a different time. We are in a difficult situation and a moment when the government is talking about being more open, and the government has recognized errors it wants to change,� she said.
The nine sisters of the Sacred Heart here are all Cuban-born and work in several parishes in East Havana, as well as with youth programs, religious education efforts to bring people back into the Church and spiritual formation and retreat work.
One of the sisters conducts a lifelong course on Ignatian spirituality for 25 people around the world using the Internet.
In recent weeks, there had been a flurry of activity at parishes in Havana, and many youths participated in an overnight vigil at the Havana Cathedral on the eve of the papal Mass. This new ability to express the Catholic faith outdoors through novenas and the Way of the Cross in city parks has been remarkable.
The pilgrimage across Cuba of the image of Our Lady of Charity was the extraordinary event that paved the way for Benedict�s visit.
�There was not a Cuban that remained at home this year to see that,� Sister Martinez said. �I think the government was impressed with the million people who went out for that � even the policemen and military were there praying.�
�The youngsters have done things which give us hope,� said Sister Christina Colas, �because they get no values at the schools. Some of them don�t want to open up with us. Last weekend we had a retreat for 12 of them and they began to say a word. We have to give them other kinds of experiences like going to the beach as a group of Catholic teens.�
Sister Colas noted that after the pope said the Cuban-born Father Felix Varela was the first person who taught Cubans how to think that finally the local media made mention that Varela had been a priest and not only a philosopher.
�For us that is really something curious, an opening,� she said.
