suffer. In concluding this Holy Mass, in which Jesus has once more given
Himself
to us in His body and blood, let us now lift our gaze to the Virgin Mary, our
Mother. We ask her to teach us to stand beside the cross of our brothers and
sisters who suffer. To learn to see Jesus in every person bent low on the path
of life, in all our brothers and sisters who hunger or thirst, who are naked or
in prison or sick. With Mary our Mother, on the cross we can see who is truly
"the greatest" and what it means to stand beside the Lord and to share in His
glory.
 "Let us learn from Mary to keep our hearts awake and attentive to the needs of
others. As the wedding feast of Cana teaches us, let us be concerned for the
little details of life, and let us not tire of praying for one another, so that
no one will lack the new wine of love, the joy which Jesus brings us.
 At this time I feel bound to direct my thoughts to the beloved land of
Colombia, 'conscious of the crucial importance of the present moment when, with
renewed effort and inspired by hope, its sons and daughters are seeking to
build
a peaceful society'. May the blood shed by thousands of innocent people during
long decades of armed conflict, united to that of the Lord Jesus Christ
crucified, sustain all the efforts being made, including those on this
beautiful
island, to achieve definitive reconciliation. Thus may the long night of pain
and violence, with the support of all Colombians, become an unending day of
concord, justice, fraternity and love, in respect for institutions and for
national and international law, so that there may be lasting peace. Please, we
do not have the right to allow ourselves yet another failure on this path of
peace and reconciliation. Thank you, Mr. President, for all you have done in
this work towards reconciliation".
 "I ask you now that we join together in praying to Mary, that we may place all
our concerns and hopes before the heart of Christ. We pray to her in a special
way for those who have lost hope and find no reasons to keep fighting, and for
those who suffer from injustice, abandonment and loneliness. We pray for the
elderly, the infirm, children and young people, for all families experiencing
difficulty, that Mary may dry their tears, comfort them with a mother's love,
and restore their hope and joy. Holy Mother, I commend to you these your sons
and daughters in Cuba. May you never abandon them!".

___________________________________________________________

 Meeting with President Raul Castro and with Commander Fidel in the Palace of
the Revolution
 Vatican City, 20 September 2015 (VIS) - Following Holy Mass, and after lunch
in
the apostolic nunciature, the Pope transferred by car to the Palace of the
Revolution to pay a courtesy visit to the President of the Council of State of
Cuba, Raul Castro, elected in 2008 after his brother Fidel Castro stood down
for
reasons of ill health. Although this did not form part of the official
programme
for the visit, the Holy Father also met with "Commander" Fidel.
 "The meeting was foreseeable, although it did not form part of the programme",
explained Fr. Lombardi. "We all knew that Commander Fidel wanted to see the
Pope, as he did with Pope Benedict XVI during his visit. Commander Fidel, who
is
an elderly man, is spending this phase of his life in study and reflection: he
reads a lot and enjoys conversing with people with great experience. This is
explicitly how it was with Pope Benedict XVI, and also with Pope Francis".
 "Fidel had asked Pope Benedict to send some books that could be useful for his
reflections, and Francis followed on from this by taking, on his own
initiative,
two books by the Italian priest Alessandro Pronzato, known to many as a
prolific
author of spiritual and catechetic texts. He also took a book and two CDs by
Fr.
Armando Llorente, a Jesuit priest who died a few years ago, who was close to
Castro as a child when he attended the Jesuit school at the Colegio de Belen.
The memorial of this relationship with a teacher who profoundly affected his
life during his youth was a very meaningful gesture on the part of the Pope".
 "The Holy Father also took his two great texts, 'Evangelii Gaudium' and
'Laudato si''. This latter focuses on themes of interest to Castro also in this
stage of his life - the great questions of the current world and its future. It
is certainly a document he will find most interesting. Commander Castro gave
the
Pope a very well-known book, 'Fidel y la Religion' by Frei Betto, which takes
the form of a conversation with Frei Betto. It was a very informal encounter, a
serene exchange in the presence of various members of his family, and certainly
a positive moment".

___________________________________________________________

 Vespers in the Cathedral of Havana
 Vatican City, 21 September 2015 (VIS) - The Immaculate Conception is the
patroness of Havana and, in the historic cathedral dedicated to this title and
to St. Cristobal, whose baroque facade was designed by Francesco Borromini, the
Pope meet with the priests, men and women religious and seminarians of Cuba to
for the Vespers prayer. Francis commented on the Gospel account of the rich
young man, observant of the law, who is saddened when Jesus tells him that if
he
wishes to follow Him he must abandon his riches. He made some unscripted
comments regarding the value of poverty for all Christians, as well as for
consecrated persons. His original prepared discourse is reproduced below.
 "We are gathered in this historic Cathedral of Havana to sing with psalms the
faithfulness of God towards his people, with thanksgiving for his presence and
his infinite mercy. A faithfulness and mercy not only commemorated by this
building, but also by the living memory of some of the elderly among us, who
know from experience that 'his mercy endures forever and his faithfulness
throughout the ages'. For this, brothers and sisters, let us together give
thanks.
 "Let us give thanks for the Spirit's presence in the rich and diverse charisms
of all those missionaries who came to this land and became Cubans among Cubans,
a sign that God's mercy is eternal.
 "The Gospel presents Jesus in dialogue with His Father. It brings us to the
heart of the prayerful intimacy between the Father and the Son. As His hour
drew
near, Jesus prayed for His disciples, for those with Him and for those who were
yet to come. We do well to remember that, in that crucial moment, Jesus made
the
lives of His disciples, our lives, a part of His prayer. He asked His Father to
keep them united and joyful. Jesus knew full well the hearts of His disciples,
and He knows full well our own. And so He prays to the Father to save them from
a spirit of isolation, of finding refuge in their own certainties and comfort
zones, of indifference to others and division into 'cliques' which disfigure
the
richly diverse face of the Church. These are situations which lead to a kind of
isolation and ennui, a sadness that slowly gives rise to resentment, to
constant
complaint, to boredom; this 'is not God's will for us, nor is it the life in
the
Spirit' to which He invited them, to which He has invited us. That is why Jesus
prays that sadness and isolation will not prevail in our hearts. We want to do
the same, we want to join in Jesus' prayer, in His words, so that we can say
together: 'Father, keep them in Your name... that they may be one, even as we
are
one', 'that Your joy may be complete'.
 "Jesus prays and He invites us to pray, because He knows that some things can
only be received as gifts; some things can only be experienced as gifts. Unity
is a grace which can be bestowed upon us only by the Holy Spirit; we have to
ask
for this grace and do our best to be transformed by that gift.
 "Unity is often confused with uniformity; with actions, feelings and words
which are all identical. This is not unity, it is conformity. It kills the life
of the Spirit; it kills the charisms which God has bestowed for the good of His
people. Unity is threatened whenever we try to turn others into our own image
and likeness. Unity is a gift, not something to be imposed by force or by
decree. I am delighted to see you here, men and women of different generations,
backgrounds and experiences, all united by our common prayer. Let us ask God to
increase our desire to be close to one another. To be neighbours, always there
for one another, with all our many differences, interests and ways of seeing
things. To speak straightforwardly, despite our disagreements and disputes, and
not behind each other's backs. May we be shepherds who are close to our people,
open to their questions and problems. Conflicts and disagreements in the Church
are to be expected and, I would even say, needed. They are a sign that the
Church is alive and that the Spirit is still acting, still enlivening her. Woe
to those communities without a 'yes' and a 'no'! They are like married couples
who no longer argue, because they have lost interest, they have lost their
love.
 "The Lord prays also that we may be filled with His own 'complete joy'. The
joy
of Christians, and especially of consecrated men and women, is a very clear
sign
of Christ's presence in their lives. When we see sad faces, it is a warning
that
something is wrong. Significantly, this is the request which Jesus makes of the
Father just before He goes out to the Garden to renew His own 'fiat'. I am
certain that all of you have had to bear many sacrifices and, for some of you,
for several decades now, these sacrifices have proved difficult. Jesus prays,
at
the moment of His own sacrifice, that we will never lose the joy of knowing
that
He overcomes the world. This certainty is what inspires us, morning after
morning, to renew our faith. 'With a tenderness which never disappoints, but is
always capable of restoring our joy' - by His prayer, and in the faces of our
people - Christ 'makes it possible for us to lift up our heads and to start
anew'.
 "How important, how valuable for the life of the Cuban people, is this witness
which always and everywhere radiates such joy, despite our weariness, our
misgivings and even our despair, that dangerous temptation which eats away at
our soul!
 "Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus prays that all of us may be one, and that
His
joy may abide within us. May we do likewise, as we unite ourselves to one
another in prayer".

___________________________________________________________

 Francis meets with the young, Cuba's hope for the future
 Vatican City, 21 September 2015 (VIS) - After Vespers, the Pope transferred to
the "Centro de Estudio Padre Felix Varela", the Felix Varela Cultural Centre,
adjacent to the cathedral, to meet with the young people of Cuba. The Centre is
dedicated to the Servant of God Felix Varela (1788-1853), considered to be the
"father of Cuban culture". The priest, whose cause for beatification is
underway, taught for ten years at the San Carlos college and seminary, making a
significant contribution to the progress of sciences and letters on the island.
In 1821 he was elected as the representative of Cuba before the Spanish court,
where he appealed for the liberation of black slaves. In 1823, following the
reestablishment of absolutism in Spain under Ferdinand VII, he transferred to
the United States where he proclaimed Cuba's right to independence and
exercised
his pastoral ministry for thirty years, founding schools, building churches and
evangelising among the marginalised.
 The Centre is a lay institute, in operation since 2011, coordinated by the
Pontifical Council for Culture. It comprises a centre for ecclesiastical
studies, also offering courses in philosophy, psychology, and a master's degree
entitled Cuba-Emprende, aimed at supporting private enterprise initiatives in
favour of economic change in the country. It also hosts concerts, conferences
and other events, and promotes the Festival of Latin American Cinema.
 The Pope expressed his joy at being in the company of the young in a centre so
important to Cuban history, and after receiving greetings, he set aside his
written discourse, and spoke informally with those present. Extensive extracts
from the prepared text are published below:
 " ... When I look at all of you, the first thing that comes into my mind and
heart, too, is the word 'hope'. I cannot imagine a young person who is
listless,
without dreams or ideals, without a longing for something greater.
 "But what kind of hope does a young Cuban have at this moment of history?
Nothing more or less than that of any other young person in any other part of
the world. Because hope speaks to us of something deeply rooted in every human
heart, independently of our concrete circumstances and historical conditioning.
Hope speaks to us of a thirst, an aspiration, a longing for a life of
fulfilment, a desire to achieve great things, things which fill our heart and
lift our spirit to lofty realities like truth, goodness and beauty, justice and
love. But it also involves taking risks. It means being ready not to be seduced
by what is fleeting, by false promises of happiness, by immediate and selfish
pleasures, by a life of mediocrity and self-centredness, which only fills the
heart with sadness and bitterness. No, hope is bold; it can look beyond
personal
convenience, the petty securities and compensations which limit our horizon,
and
can open us up to grand ideals which make life more beautiful and worthwhile. I
would ask each one of you: What is it that shapes your life? What lies deep in
your heart? Where do your hopes and aspirations lie? Are you ready to put
yourself on the line for the sake of something even greater?
 "Perhaps you may say: 'Yes, Father, I am strongly attracted to those ideals. I
feel their call, their beauty, their light shining in my heart. But I feel too
weak, I am not ready to decide to take the path of hope. The goal is lofty and

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