Pope Francis is due to land in Havana this afternoon to begin a 10-day papal visit first to Cuba and then to the United States, where he will meet with President Obama and address a joint meeting of Congress in Washington and speak before the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
In Cuba, the pontiff — who is credited with helping nudge the two nations toward a rapprochement — will also meet with President Raul Castro. Castro — who like his brother and longtime leader Fidel was baptized as a Catholic and educated by Jesuits — is expected to meet the pope when his plane lands at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport at about 4 p.m. ET.
Osmany Lopez, a 63-year-old plumber who lives in Havana, was quoted by Reuters as saying he planned to be on the streets of the capital to greet Francis's motorcade from the airport.
"We all want to say thank you so much Francis for helping us end this absurd situation we have endured for so long," Lopez said, referring to the relaxation of U.S. sanctions first imposed on Cuba during the Cold War.
Pope John Paul II visited the predominately Catholic island nation in 1998.
As The Associated Press notes, Francis' visit "boasts several firsts for history's first Latin American 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."
"Francis though will also be following in the footsteps of his predecessors, 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. And he will join three of his predecessors in grabbing the world stage at the United Nations to press his agenda on migration, the environment and religious persecution while over 100 world leaders listen in."
The Miami Herald writes:
"The Argentina-born pontiff ... comes to the island at a time when many Cubans are thirsting for a message of hope and searching for a way forward. That the first Latin American pope will be speaking to them in their native language could make his message even more powerful. "In a short 'fraternal' greeting televised Thursday night in Cuba, Francis said he would visit the Cuban people to 'share the faith and hope.' The pope said he had a very simple message for them: 'Jesus loves you very much, Jesus sincerely loves you; he always carries you in his heart. . . . He never abandons us.'"
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