Santiago, Cuba - Pope Benedict XVI prayed Tuesday for “those who are deprived of freedom” as he visited the shrine to Cuba's patroness near the city of Santiago.
The pope again called for “renewal” in communist Cuba, at the shrine to Our Lady of Charity.
“I have entrusted to the Mother of God the future of your country, advancing along the ways of renewal and hope, for the greater good of all Cubans,” he said.
“I have also prayed to the Virgin for the needs of those who suffer, of those who are deprived of freedom, those who are separated from their loved ones or who are undergoing times of difficulty,” the pontiff said.
His prayers included Cubans of African descent, and “the nearby people of Haiti, who still suffer the consequences of the earthquake of two years ago.”
On the second day of his three-day visit to Cuba, Benedict visited the shrine as a pilgrim, praying in private for about 10 minutes before lighting a candle to the so-called Virgen Mambisa.
The 400th anniversary of the discovery of the image of the Virgin Mary is the official occasion for the papal visit.
Benedict had spent the night in a house near the shrine, which is in the town of El Cobre, about 20 kilometres away from Santiago.
The pope was due next to travel to the capital Havana, about 900 kilometres away.
There, he was to be officially welcomed by Cuban President Raul Castro, although the two men met Monday in Santiago and Castro attended the open-air mass the pontiff celebrated before a large crowd in a Santiago square.
Benedict is to hold a second open-air mass Wednesday on Havana's Plaza de la Revolucion. The service has been billed as the main event of the papal visit to Cuba, which is to end after the mass. - Sapa-dpa