Santiago de Cuba. After the first leg of his trip to Mexico, Pope Benedict XVI has continued his pilgrimage to Santiago de Cuba.

Celebrating the Solemnity of the Annunciation, thousands of the faithful cheered on the Pope in the ‘Plaza de la Revolución Antonio Maceo’, where previously the venerated image of the Virgin of Charity, Patroness of Cuba had been enthroned, having been brought there from her Sanctuary in Cobre.

Before the Eucharistic celebration the Archbishop of Santiago, Mons. Dionisio García Ibañez, directed some very warm words of welcome to the Pope, expressing the very deep feelings of this people who are now catching a glimpse of a future full of hope, as a prosperous country, inclusive and participative, with all and for the good of all in which it is necessary to overcome the barriers which separate Cubans, by means of mercy, dialogue, respect, and reconciliation.

In his welcome, the Archbishop said: “This Primate Archdiocese, where Saint Anthony Mary Claret was the Archbishop (…), in the name of the Church in Cuba and of all Cubans of good will, I give you thanks for wanting to come to the National Sanctuary of Cobre as a “Pilgrim of Charity”, to venerate the blessed image of our beloved Patroness, the Virgin of Charity, in the jubilee celebration of the four-hundred years of her discovery and maternal presence in the history of our people and in each Cuban in particular.”