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THE POPE’S VISIT TO CUBA:EXPECTATIONS AND POSSIBILITIESEditorial 24. Nov-Dec 2011. Convivencia Magazine. www.convivenciacuba.esThe Catholic Church and the official presshave announced that His Holiness the PopeBenedict XVI “is considering visiting Mexicoand Cuba during the spring of the year 2012”.At the same time, the spokesman of the HolySee has declared that the State Department ofthe Supreme Pontiff has told the PapalNuncios in each one of these countries toinform the respective ecclesiastical andcivilian authorities about the expected visit.This news which was published at thebeginning of November has arousednumerous expectations and possibilities. Morethan a half of the Catholic Church onethousand million members live in LatinAmerica so the visit of the Supreme Pastor ofthe Catholic Church is always a momentousevent that does not leave indifferent either thevisited Church or the civilian authorities or agreat part of the people that declares itself abeliever from a Christian matrix.It’s about two things at the same time whichare inseparably mixed in one person: the visitof the head of one church and the head of asmall State which symbolizes the sovereigntyof this religious denomination to be able toexercise its evangelizing mission, withoutinterference or manipulation. That is whywhether we want it or not, every visit of onePope has a religious dimension and anotherpolitical and social dimension. For this reasonit brings spiritual and political expectations ina wide sense though his visit is essentiallyreligious.However, the visit of a head of State shouldnot be compared or likened to the visit of thePope; if we do that we would be making amistake in perspective, in interpretation andexpectations.Cuba already had a papal visit 14 years ago.His Holiness the Pope John Paul II who hasbeen declared blessed and has been veneratedas a saint by millions of persons around theworld, carried out an unforgettable pastoralvisit to our Island which lasted five days, fromthe 21st to the 25 th of January 1998. It’simpossible not to bear this in mind and it’svery probable that some try to makecomparisons with the announced pilgrimageof Benedict XVI. Though it is natural that weremember and evoke that historic event thebest thing we should do is to be aware of thefact that any visit of this kind can’t be likenedto another one because they are differentPontiffs, because this is a different time andbecause Cuba in 1998 was a different one inmany aspects compared to the Cuba of 2012.THE RESULTS OF A PONTIFICAL VISITDEPEND ON THE PROTAGONISTSHowever, we wish to be participants in thisstage of preparation of the possible Pope’svisit so we wish to tell some expectations andpossibilities shared by some Cubans, womenand men, not necessarily Catholics. There isan old Latin saying though it’s not alwaysexact and it goes: “what goes to Rome comesfrom Rome”. This generally means that theexpectations of the Church are very importantand so are the expectations of the rest of theNation that the Pope will visit; the view of thelocal reality that will be informed to the Popeand the characteristics of his pastoralpilgrimage as desired by both parties.Ediciones ConvivenciaPinar del Río. 201297