For some months now, we have witnessed an event which fills us with hope: the process of normalizing relations between two peoples following years of estrangement. It is a process, sign of the victory of the culture of encounter, he said.
The Pope urged political leaders to persevere on this path and to develop all its potentialities as a proof of the high service which they are called to carry out on behalf of the peace and well-being of their peoples, of all America, and as an example of reconciliation for the entire world.
The world needs reconciliation in this atmosphere of World War III in stages that we are living, said His Holiness.
The Head of the Catholic Church was received Saturday at Jose Marti International Airport by Cuban President Raul Castro.
In his speech, the Cuban president thanked the Pope for his support for the dialogue between the U.S. and Cuba.
The restoration of diplomatic relations was a first step in the process towards normalization of ties between the two countries that will require solving problems and repairing injustices.
The blockade, which causes human damages and privations to the Cuban family, is cruel, immoral and illegal, and it should cease, he said.
Raul Castro added that for the normalization of relations, the territory usurped by the Guantanamo Naval Base should be returned to Cuba
The Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church, who started here a trip that will also take him to the United States, arrived in the afternoon to the capital, where people offered a warm welcome during his journey of 18 kilometers to the Apostolic Nunciature.
This is the third visit of a Bishop of Rome to Cuba in the last 17 years, after the trips made by John Paul II in 1998, and Benedict XVI, in 2012.
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