THOUSANDS of adoring Cuban faithful line the streets to see Pope Francis as he calls on Castro and the communist nation to 'open up to the world'
- Pope Francis arrived in Havana before flying to the United States on Tuesday on his first visits to the two countries
- Francis will become the first pope to address the U.S. Congress and he will also proclaim the first saint on U.S. soil
- He will celebrate Mass in Havana, Holguin and Santiago before flying to the U.S. where he will be greeted by Obama
- Upon arrival, Francis urged the two countries to set an example for the world by persisting with rapprochement
- He also used his speech to call for Cuba to open itself up to the world and provide more religious freedom
- Francis was accused of delivering a veiled critique of the Castro regime, which he has branded corrupt in the past
Pope Francis has arrived in Havana to begin a ten-day tour of Cuba and the United States today on his first visit to the former Cold War foes after helping broker their historic detente.
Upon his arrival, Francis urged the two countries to provide an example for the world by persisting with their diplomatic rapprochement.
'For some months now, we have witnessed an event which fills us with hope: the process of normalizing relations,' he said. 'I urge political leaders to persevere on this path - as an example of reconciliation for the entire world.'
Cuban President Raul Castro was at the airport to welcome the pontiff, who will be offering a show of solidarity with Cubans and delivering a message in the United States that Hispanics are the bedrock of the American church.
Pope Francis used a short speech after landing to call on Cuba to open itself up to the world, provide more religious freedom for the country's Christians, and to carry on strengthening ties with other countries.
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Pope Francis was given a red-carpet welcome when he stepped off the papal plane in Havana today, greeted by the country's president, Raul Castro (right) alongside smiling children with bouquets of flowers,
Pope Francis blesses a girl shortly after landing at Havana's José Martí International Airport on his first visit to Cuba this afternoon, where he was welcomed by President Raul Castro (right)
The historic ten-day visit is Francis's first trip to Cuba and the United States after helping broker their historic detente. Pictured: the Pope shakes hands with Cuban President Raul Castro
Francis is due to hold masses in Havana and around Cuba until Tuesday evening, when he will fly to Washington DC where he will meet President Obama, then on to New York and Philadelphia (pictured, the Pope speaks with Raul Castro of Cuba)
The pontiff's skullcap was blown off by a gust of wind as he stepped off the plane at Havana's international airport this afternoon
The 78-year-old Argentine failed to catch his cap as it was blown away as he descended from the plane upon landing in Havana today
Pope Francis is welcomed by Cuban President Raul Castro upon landing at Havana's international airport on the first leg of a high-profile trip that will also take him to the United States
Pope Francis was welcomed by Cuban president Raul Castro (pictured left of Pope Francis) at Havana's international airport today
Pope Francis is greeted by cardinals alongside Cuban President Raul Castro after descending from the plane at Havana airport
Pope Francis speaks Cuban President Raul Castro during his welcome ceremony upon landing at Havana's international airport today
Francis listens to Cuban President Raul Castro delivering a speech during the welcoming ceremony at Havana's international airport
The Holy See will be in Cuba for four days before flying to the U.S. on Tuesday night, landing at St Andrews Airforce base in Washington DC (pictured, Francis is caught out by the wind again while speaking in Havana)
Experts suggested to CNN that Francis used his speech to deliver a veiled critique at the Castro regime, which has been in power for five decades, by referencing famous Cuban freedom fighter Jose Marti.
Francis, who has been critical of the Castro family in the past, referenced Marti as a 'fighter of dynasties', which some suggested was referring to the Castros, though the Vatican has denied this.
He also said he believes 'the world is thirsty for peace,' according to Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
The visit boasts several firsts for history's first Latin American pope - Francis will become the first pontiff to address the U.S. Congress and he will also proclaim the first saint on U.S. soil by canonizing the controversial, and Hispanic, missionary, Junipero Serra.
The pope is to celebrate Mass in Havana, Holguin and Santiago before flying to the United States on Tuesday, where he will meet Obama and address both the U.S. Congress and United Nations.
He will also be following in the footsteps of his predecessors by becoming the third pontiff to visit Cuba in the past 17 years — a remarkable record for any country, much less one with such a tiny Catholic community.
Thousands of people have gathered along the route where Pope Francis's motorcade will travel this afternoon, but not everyone in Havana is thrilled at being asked to turn out for the pontiff.
State-employed medical office worker Rafael Rivero says he's not sure if he will come watch Francis' motorcade, and says many of his co-workers feel the same way.
He said: 'Sure, go, if you're a practicing Catholic but it shouldn't be an obligation on a Saturday afternoon. It's our day off.'
Cuban officials are offering a day's pay, snacks and transportation to encourage state workers to line the pontiff's route from the airport to the Papal Ambassador's home. University students also have been recruited.
Hundreds are planning to take buses or trains across long, winding routes through Cuba's rural heartland to see Pope Francis appear in Havana to the west or Holguin and Santiago to the east.
Although fewer than a third of Cubans identify as Catholic, many rural Cubans are speaking warmly of the pope's role in mediating detente between the U.S. and Cuba.
Pope Francis departed from Rome on a special Alitalia flight on Saturday morning. Starting in Havana, where will be greeted as something of a hero to Cubans who credit him with having helped restore diplomatic relations between the United States and the Communist country.
Crowds lined the streets of Havana to welcome the Pope today as he paraded around the city in his motorcade, including passing by this sign feature Communist leaders including Fidel Castro, alongside a slogan which translates as: 'True examples of brotherhood'
While Francis's visits to other countries are usually accompanied by a huge security operation, on the streets of Havana, people were allowed to assemble at the sides of the road with few police and no barriers around
While previous popes rode around fully encased by a bullet-proof glass screen, one of Francis's first acts as Pope was to do away with that, instead preferring one with open sides
Pope Francis waves from the Popemobile after his arrival in Havana, Cuba, as crowds flocked on to the streets to see him
Cuban officials offered a day's pay, snacks and transportation to encourage state workers to line the pontiff's route from the airport to the Papal Ambassador's home
Hundreds of people eagerly anticipate the arrival of Pope Francis on a road outside the airport in Havana, Cuba, this afternoon
A nun waits with others for Pope Francis to arrive outside the Apostolic Nunciature in Havana, Cuba, on his first visit to the country
Yelenis Teruel Salas, who is celebrating her 15th birthday today, enters a convertible car wearing her lavish purple gown outside the San Isidoro Cathedral, on the day of Pope Francis's arrival in Havana
Yelenis Teruel Salas shows her image of Pope Francis outside the San Isidoro Cathedral where she prayed as part of her 15th birthday or 'Quinceañera' celebrations in Holguin today
'We all want to say thank you so much Francis for helping us end this absurd situation we have endured for so long,' said plumber Osmany Lopez, 63, who plans to be on the streets of Havana to see Francis' motorcade from the airport today.
Before leaving for Cuba, Pope Francis paid a visit to the newest residents of Vatican City: a refugee Syrian family taken in by the Vatican in a demonstration of the pontiff's call for the world to open its doors to refugees and people seeking better lives for themselves.
Francis says he was emotional meeting the family of four, who arrived in Italy from Damascus on the same Sunday that the pope issued an appeal for each parish and religious order around the globe to take in a refugee family and provide for them. The Vatican is taking in two: the Syrian family of Greek Melkite Catholics and another family that hasn't yet been identified.
During his flight to Havana, Francis told of meeting with the Syrian family Saturday morning as he headed out of the Vatican. In his words, 'You could see the pain in their faces.'
He called again for 'bridges of peace' to prevail to end wars and help stem the tide of migrants.
While on the plane, journalists were treated to meat-filled empanadas by flight attendants, and told they were a special gift of the pope from the front of the aircraft.
Better sensitized to the issue than his predecessors due to his Latin American roots, the pontiff issued a personal appeal to Obama and Castro last year to end 50 years of animosity and facilitated a back channel for talks. He later hosted the Cuban and U.S. delegations to finalize the deal.
'Everybody listens to him because of his prestige,' said Juana Hurtado, 55, on the eve of the visit in Havana. 'And he may soften up some hard souls.'
Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said Francis hopes the rapprochement will soon be followed by the removal of the U.S. embargo, which the Vatican has long opposed.
On Friday, the United States eased rules for U.S. citizens wishing to travel to Cuba and simplified procedures for telephone and Internet investments and money transfers to Cuba.
Francis is also set to take the world stage at the United Nations to press his agenda on migration, the environment and religious persecution while more than 100 world leaders listen in.
It is largely unknown territory for the Argentine Jesuit, who has never visited either country and has confessed that the United States was so foreign to him that he would spend the summer reading up on it.
The 78-year-old's popularity ratings are high in the U.S., although he also has gained detractors, particularly among conservatives over his critiques of the excesses of capitalism.
That has endeared him to Cuban President Raul Castro, who vowed earlier this year that if Francis kept it up, he would return to the Catholic Church. But Francis has also been on record criticizing Cuba's socialist — and atheist — revolution as denying individuals their 'transcendent dignity.'
Pope Francis arrives in Havana to begin a ten-day tour of Cuba and the United States today on his first visit to the former Cold War foes after helping broker their historic detente. Pictured: Francis waves at Fiumicino airport in Rome as he boards his flight to Cuba
Francis will also be following in the footsteps of his predecessors by becoming the third pontiff to visit Cuba in the past 17 years
Alitalia president Luca di Montezemolo (left) wishes Pope Francis a safe trip to Pope Francis before he boards his flight to Havana, Cuba
The pope is to celebrate Mass in Havana, Holguin and Santiago in Cuba before flying to the United States on Tuesday, where he will be greeted by President Barack Obama
Pope Francis will become the first pope to address the U.S. Congress and he will also proclaim the first saint on U.S. soil by canonizing the controversial, and Hispanic, missionary, Junipero Serra
The U.S. visit, planned well before the Cuban stop was added on, will be notable for the emphasis Francis is placing on Hispanics
But a close Vatican aide of the pope's, Guzman Carriquiry, said Francis' key aim in travelling to Cuba was pastoral, not political.
He told a recent church conference: 'When I asked the Holy Father if he's going to Cuba to follow the negotiations between the U.S. and Cuba, he responded clearly this is neither the motivation nor the objective of the trip.
'The motive of the trip is to confirm the Catholic faith of Cubans and encourage a church that has suffered in the past decades.'
Asked if Francis would meet with dissidents or speak out about their plight while in the Communist country, Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the issue could come up in private discussions between Francis and Raul Castro, and their respective secretaries of state.
'You can discuss problems of this type without dealing with them in clamorous ways,' Lombardi added.
Francis will travel to the eastern Cuban city of Santiago to pray at the sanctuary of Cuba's patron saint and stop in the city of Holguin en-route, demonstrating once again his desire to visit places that are often overlooked.
And Argentine President Cristina Fernandez is in the Cuban capital on an official visit that coincides with Pope Francis's visit. Fernandez arrived Saturday morning and is scheduled to meet with President Castro and plans to attend a Mass celebrated by Francis on Sunday at Havana's Revolution Square.
The pope will arrive in Washington D.C. on September 22 for the start of the U.S. leg of his trip, greeted at Andrews Air Force Base by President Obama and his family. Francis will also visit New York and Philadelphia before returning to Rome on September 28.
The U.S. visit, planned well before the Cuban stop was added on, will be notable for the emphasis Francis is placing on Hispanics. They make up about 38 per cent of adult Catholics in the U.S., according to the CARA research center at Georgetown University.
Francis will deliver the vast majority of his speeches in his native Spanish, despite speaking very good English. He will also meet with immigrants on several occasions and bless a wooden cross particularly important to the Hispanic faithful.
His canonization of the Spanish-born Junipero Serra, who built missions across California in the 18th century, is aimed at giving today's Latino Catholics a role model - although Native Americans have opposed the canonization and argued he helped wipe out indigenous populations.
Pope Francis watches recorded video messages which Cuban state television channels transmitted in Vatican City ahead of his visit
People watch Pope Francis arrive to the airport, live on state television in their living room in Havana, Cuba earlier tod
Most importantly, Francis is expected to make immigration one of the major themes of his visit, calling for countries to be more welcoming of migrants seeking a better life for themselves.
In particular, he decried the plight of would-be migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, signaling he has no qualms about wading into a politically charged issue in the U.S. presidential campaign.
Carriquiry, the No. 2 in the Vatican's Latin America commission and a longtime friend to Francis, said he expected the pope would reaffirm what American bishops have been saying for years.
'That Hispanic ministry it is not an add-on to the so-called Anglo-centric official, traditional ministry, but that it has to do with those who already make up almost half of the Catholics in the country, whose evangelization is a main priority of the destiny of Catholicism here,' he said.
Another hot-button issue Francis will raise is religious liberty, following the legalization of gay marriage across the country and continued opposition by the U.S. church to the birth control coverage requirement in the Obama administration's health care plan. For Francis though, religious liberty also means denouncing the persecution of Christians by Islamic extremists in the Middle East and Africa.
A man pushes his motorcycle as people walk on the freshly painted Reina Street on the route that Pope Francis will ride on his Popemobile in Havana, Cuba, today
Vatican and Cuban flags hang from a balcony in Reina Street before the arrival of Pope Francis in Havana, Cuba, this afternoon
A street sweeper cleans near a sign reading 'Long live Cuba' and a monument of Cuban independence hero Antonio Maceo in Havana
A worker cleans the site where Pope Francis will celebrate Mass in Revolution Plaza in Holguin, Cuba, before flying to the United States
Technically, the real reason for the trip is for Francis to participate in the church's World Meeting of Families, a massive Catholic rally in Philadelphia, to reinforce church teaching on marriage.
Traditional family values are expected to be high on the agenda, especially since the Philadelphia event amounts to the opening act of a major and contentious meeting of the world's bishops on family issues, including gays and divorcees, that will get underway a week after Francis returns to Rome.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, said he expected Francis would do what his predecessors have done on their trips to the U.S.,that is remind America of its greatness, of its long history of welcoming foreigners and of the freedoms, first sketched out in Philadelphia, that formed the foundation of American democracy and society.
'He will remind of us our nobility,' Dolan said in a recent interview in the New York City archdiocese. 'He will affirm our heritage and in doing that he'll also remind us of the moral imperative to live up to that.'
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