This article evaluates the visit of Pope Francis to Cuba in September 2015 through interviews with significant actors in the events surrounding it. Encompassed with a multitude of expectations relating to the processes of change taking place in Cuba, the papal visit marked a historic moment both for the Catholic Church in Cuba and the Cuban state, also due to the conflictual history of the church–state relations and the increasingly active participation of the Catholic Church in Cuban society. A significant factor of the papal visit was the role of Pope Francis in the rapprochement between Cuba and the US. As the visit portrayed Pope Francis as an active participant in the processes of change that is occurring in Cuba, the article also examines the expectations, interpretations and outcomes of the visit as well as the role attributed to Pope Francis in contemporary Cuba.
Alonso Tejada, Aurelio (1997) Church and Politics in Revolutionary Cuba . Havana: Editorial José Martí.
Catholic Herald (13 November, 2015) ‘Pope Francis Donates Castro Crucifix to Lampedusa’. Catholic Herald . Available at http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/11/13/pope-francis-donates-castro-crucifix-to-lampedusa/. (Accessed 1 June 2017.)
Cuba (21 January, 1998) ‘Pope John Paul II's Speech on His Arrival to Cuba’. Havana, Cuba. Available at https://www.ewtn.com/cuba/arrive.htm. (Accessed 1 June 2017.)
Cuba, Point of Encounter (19 September, 2015) “Welcoming Ceremony. Address of Pope Francis”. José Martí International Airport, Havana, Cuba.
In-flight Press Conference (22 September, 2015) ‘In-flight Press Conference. Papal Flight’. Press Conference of Pope Francis from Santiago de Cuba to Washington, DC.
Kirk, John M. (1989) Between God and the Party. Religion and Politics in Revolutionary Cuba . Tampa: University of South Florida Press.
LeoGrande, William M. and Peter Kornbluh. (2015) Back Channel to Cuba. The Hidden History of Negotiations between Washington and Havana . Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.
Mary and the Revolution of Tenderness (22 September, 2015) ‘Mass, Homily of Pope Francis’. Minor Basilica of the Shrine “Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre”, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.
‘Mensaje de los Obispos de Cuba al cumplirse un mes de la visita pastoral del Papa Francisco a nuestra patria’ (19 October, 2015) Conferencia de Obispos Catolicos de Cuba, Havana, Cuba.
Newsweek (22.9.2015) ‘When It Comes to Human Rights, Francis Is no John Paul II’. Newsweek . Available at http://www.newsweek.com/when-it-comes-human-rights-francis-no-john-paul-ii-375294. (Accessed 1 June 2017.)
New York Times (20 September, 2015) ‘Pope Francis Careful in Navigating Cuban Politics’. New York Times . Available at https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/21/world/americas/pope-francis-cuba.html?_r=0. (Accessed 1 June 2017.)
‘Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre’ (21 September 2015). Prayer of Pope Francis to the Virgen de la Caridad, Shrine of the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, Santiago, Cuba.
Plan Pastoral (2015) ‘Por el Camino de Emaús’. Plan Pastoral de La Iglesia Católica en Cuba 2014–2020. Conferencia de los Obispos Cat'olicos de Cuba.
The Call to Serve. (20 September 2015) ‘The Call to Serve. Homily of Pope Francis’. Mass, Plaza de la Revolucion, Havana, Cuba.