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Pope Benedict XVI outsmarted Brown, the British
Prime Minister, who replaced Blair, whom I met
and spoke with for a few minutes during a recess
at the WTO Second Conference in Geneva 10 years
ago; it was following his speech and I was
expressing my disagreement on the matter of an
incorrect sentence he used about the social
situation of British children. Brown’s voice,
positions and tone at his press conference in
the presence of Bush, gave me the impression
that he is self-assuming as his predecessor in
the leadership of the Labor Party. The
activities of the new British Prime Minister,
coinciding with the Pope's visit, were just like
those of a leader of the government of a banana
republic.
Benedict XVI paid special attention to
April 13th when, 65 years ago, over
one thousand prisoners were incinerated in the
town of Gardelegen; this became a day remembered
in the martyrology suffered by the Jewish people
in Nazi Germany, a human tragedy that lasted
years.
Bush welcomed him at Andrews Air Force Base
in the U.S., an unusual gesture. Benedict XVI,
as a German bishop was a conservative who
disliked changes in social policies and in the
internal norms governing his Church. Initially,
the U.S. mainstream press was relentless, due to
the irregularities committed contrary to the
norms guiding the faithful. They even described
the Roman Catholic Church as a decadent
religion.
His visit also coincided with his 81st
birthday. Bush, thoughtful and indulgent, sang
Happy Birthday to him, right on the 16th.
The Pope was, undoubtedly, smart as he
started to counterattack from the beginning of
his visit. In spite of his 81 years that he
would be celebrating a few hours later, he
descended from the plane, barely touching the
handrails of the steep steps, and by the time he
reached the last treads, he was not even doing
that. He is a short man who appears to weigh
about half of what Bush weighs. He has a light
step. He never, for one single minute, abandoned
his smile and the sparkle in his eyes, and he
immediately set out to follow a schedule that
would have exhausted any 18 year-old visitor.
Television coverage went wild.
The Pope visited universities, a Catholic
cultural centre built just for the occasion; he
met with representatives from hundreds of
Catholic schools and universities across the
huge country. The leader of the empire did not
dare ask the Vatican State for “a new
constitution and free elections” like he has
dreamed up for Cuba.
As the leader of a Church, at a time when a
war has been unleashed by the United States
against the Muslims, his message was ecumenical
and favorable to peace.
He met with representatives of religions
whose churches hold influence over billions of
people. Jewish leaders received him warmly. Of
course, they idealized the capitalist system of
the United States. One of the rabbis from Miami
said that 90 percent of Jews in Cuba had moved
to that city; he should have made it clear that
it didn’t happen because we were persecuting
them or because they were granted U.S. visas,
but because they opted for the right to travel
legally as offered by the Revolution and, just
like many Cubans from other ethnic groups, they
were in search of material advantages which they
had not been able to attain in colonial Cuba.
Jewish synagogues remained opened and
respected here, and their representatives,
together with the rest of the churches, have
meetings with leaders of the Party and the
Revolutionary Government, even at the highest
levels.
In the United States, the Pope’s visit to a
synagogue was greatly praised. It is the third
time that a Pope visits those Jewish religious
centers. The first time was when John Paul II
visited a synagogue in Poland; then, Benedict
XVI visited another in Germany; and this one, in
New York City, was the first time in this
country.
It is particularly important to claim for
the right to life in the name of freedom of
creed. Benedict XVI addressed the United Nations
Organization in his capacity as the religious
leader of a powerful church deeply rooted among
many peoples of the world:
“…the desire for peace, the quest for
justice, respect for the dignity of the person,
humanitarian cooperation and assistance -
express the just aspirations of the human
spirit...”
“…development goals, reduction of local and
global inequalities, protection of the
environment, of resources and of the climate,
require all international leaders to act jointly
and to show a readiness to work in good faith,
respecting the law, and promoting solidarity
with the weakest regions of the planet…”
“Here our thoughts turn also to the way the
results of scientific research and technological
advances have sometimes been applied.”
“[these rights] are based on the natural
law inscribed on human hearts and present in
different cultures and civilizations.”
“…the saying: Do not do to others what you
would not want done to you ‘cannot in any way
vary according to the different understandings
that have arisen in the world’…”
“My presence at this Assembly is a sign of
esteem for the United Nations, and it is
intended to express the hope that the
Organization will increasingly serve as a sign
of unity between States and an instrument of
service to the entire human family.”
When he concluded, he exclaimed in English,
French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Russian:
“Peace and prosperity with God’s help!”
Even though it is not easy to decipher the
Vatican’s thinking on the thorny issues that are
being dealt with in a world where the President
of the United States and his rich and developed
allies have imposed a bloody war against the
culture and religion of more than a billion
persons in the name of the fight against
terrorism, and where torture, pillage and
conquest by force of hydrocarbons and raw
materials reigns supreme, what the Pope stated
is the antithesis of the policy of brutality and
force applied by the singer of Happy Birthday.
In the next few days, the peoples of Latin
America shall be on the verge of confronting two
tragedies: that of Paraguay and that of Bolivia.
One of them, through the elections that are
being held today, on Sunday April 20, where a
former Catholic bishop carries an overwhelming
majority of popular support, according to
serious surveys, and the rejection of electoral
fraud is certain; the other, through the threat
of real disintegration of its territory which
shall lead to fratricidal struggles in the
long-suffering country.
Today, Benedict XIV returns to Rome. The
lovely, impressive hymns have ceased in the
temples. Now we shall continue to hear the
odious and never-ending explosions of weapons.
Fidel Castro Ruz
April 20, 2008
7:42 p.m. |
