This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/sep/20/pope-francis-celebrates-mass-havana-revolution-square-live
The article has changed 27 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Pope Francis celebrates mass in Havana's Revolution Square – live | Pope Francis celebrates mass in Havana's Revolution Square – live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 2.15pm BST14:15 | |
| Stephanie Kirchgaessner | |
| The pope will today be offering first communion to five Cuban children, according to the Vatican.This is the first time the pope is offering this sacrament on a foreign trip. This gesture is seen as a symbol of hope and the growth of the church in Cuba. | |
| For the first time in a foreign trip, Pope Francis will give 5 Children their First Communion at the Mass in Havana. pic.twitter.com/q3FZOCYscm | |
| 2.14pm BST14:14 | |
| It really is incredible how a huge crowd can fall into silence at a papal megamass. Extraordinary. | |
| 2.11pm BST14:11 | |
| Now the Gospel is sung. It’s from Mark. | |
| They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he would not have any one know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to ask him. | |
| 2.09pm BST14:09 | |
| A young woman gives the first reading, which is from the Book of Wisdom. | |
| Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training. Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life; for if the righteous man is God’s son, he will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. | |
| Afterwards, the Psalm: | |
| Save me, O God, by thy name, and vindicate me by thy might. | |
| The second reading, from the Letter of James | |
| For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. | |
| If you’re biblically-inclined, the full readings can be found here. The theme of today’s readings is humility. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity. | |
| 2.04pm BST14:04 | |
| This is the most jubilant Kyrie and Gloria I have ever heard! They’re two musical liturgical elements to introduce the mass: to beg mercy from God, and to give glory to him. | |
| Updated at 2.07pm BST | |
| 1.58pm BST13:58 | |
| The pontiff censes the altar and a statue of the Virgin Mary, and asks the congregation to confess their sins. An enormous choir and orchestra are singing the Kyrie. | |
| Mass has begun in Plaza de la Revolución in Havana, Cuba! Tune to @NETnyTV to see it all! #PopeInUSA #PopeInCuba pic.twitter.com/w04pmcOrLc | |
| Updated at 2.07pm BST | |
| 1.56pm BST13:56 | |
| Tens of thousands of people have crowded into in Revolution Square beneath massive portraits of revolutionary leaders Ernesto “Che” Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos on the facades of nearby buildings. | |
| Hundreds of Cubans and foreign visitors began streaming into the sprawling square overnight, and nearly a million people are expected to attend, including Cuban President Raúl Castro and Argentina’s Cristina Kirchner. | |
| (As we reported yesterday, Guevara’s daughter Aleida is not one of them.) | |
| “It’s very exciting to see Pope Francis. He’ll be the third pope I’ve managed to see, but I’ve never been so close. We’re all hoping to receive his mercy,” Maria Eugenia Paulina Prieto, 56, who sings in a choir that will perform during the ceremony, told AFP. | |
| “His visit is cause for hope in our aspirations for improvement,” said biologist Benito Espinoza, 41, told Reuters. “We are an optimistic people, but we have suffered for many years.” | |
| Mauren Gomez, 40, travelled some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from Villa Clara to Havana by bus with four friends for the Mass, saying they spent their pilgrimage praying the Rosary. “This is very important for us,” she told the AP. | |
| Jose Rafael Velazquez, a 54-year-old worker, arrived with his wife at the plaza three hours before mass was due to begin. He said he isn’t religious, but came more out of curiosity to witness a historic event. | |
| “We also are very hopeful for this visit, because the pope was key in the deal with the United States,” he said. “Ever since the announcement, there have been changes and this visit gives me more hope that it’ll get better.” | |
| The crowd erupted in cheers, waving Cuban, Vatican and Argentinian flags as he made his way through the crowd in his open-sided popemobile. | |
| A chorus sang a mix of traditional Cuban songs and religious tunes. Francis stopped several times to kiss children handed up to him and to bless several people in wheelchairs. | |
| Updated at 2.11pm BST | |
| 1.50pm BST13:50 | |
| From my colleague Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome: | |
| Pope Francis will shift gears on his first full day in Cuba today, with a message that is more pastoral in nature and less obviously focused on politics. He will start the day with a mass in front of hundreds of thousands of Cubans in Revolution Plaza and will, later in the day, have a formal meeting with Cuban president Raúl Castro. The big question of the day is whether the pope will also have a meeting with Raul’s brother Fidel, the revolutionary leader who is thought to be too frail to attend the public events. | |
| Most Vatican watchers believe that if Francis does, indeed, add a visit to Fidel to his schedule, it will be today, his only full day in Havana. Francis has said that he would be arriving in Cuba as a messenger of mercy – a theme that is key and constant in his papacy – and wants to show solidarity to the people of Cuba, who have suffered for decades under the US embargo. | |
| Updated at 2.12pm BST | |
| 1.44pm BST13:44 | 1.44pm BST13:44 |
| The crowds are enormous! | The crowds are enormous! |
| Le Pape arrive! Après un tour de la Place de la Révolution en Papamobile. Il est descendu pls fois #PopeInCuba pic.twitter.com/dp8hPVWgcU | Le Pape arrive! Après un tour de la Place de la Révolution en Papamobile. Il est descendu pls fois #PopeInCuba pic.twitter.com/dp8hPVWgcU |
| el Papa llega #PapaFrancisco #Habana #PopeinCuba #PopeFrancis pic.twitter.com/2r3TL3kIvp | el Papa llega #PapaFrancisco #Habana #PopeinCuba #PopeFrancis pic.twitter.com/2r3TL3kIvp |
| 1.39pm BST13:39 | 1.39pm BST13:39 |
| Adam Brereton | Adam Brereton |
| Hi Popefans! And welcome to the Guardian’s coverage of Pope Francis’s visit to Cuba. It’s an absolutely huge day today for the pontiff, who is at this moment arriving in the Plaza de la Revoluciòn in Havana to celebrate the mass with thousands of jubilant Cubans. | Hi Popefans! And welcome to the Guardian’s coverage of Pope Francis’s visit to Cuba. It’s an absolutely huge day today for the pontiff, who is at this moment arriving in the Plaza de la Revoluciòn in Havana to celebrate the mass with thousands of jubilant Cubans. |
| If you want to follow the proceedings live, there’s a YouTube stream below. | If you want to follow the proceedings live, there’s a YouTube stream below. |
| As a way of introduction, I’m Adam Brereton, the opinion editor for the Guardian’s Australian team, and I’m so thrilled to be joining my US colleagues to help cover Pope Francis’s historic pilgrimage to Cuba and the US. | As a way of introduction, I’m Adam Brereton, the opinion editor for the Guardian’s Australian team, and I’m so thrilled to be joining my US colleagues to help cover Pope Francis’s historic pilgrimage to Cuba and the US. |
| 1.20pm BST13:20 | 1.20pm BST13:20 |
| Good morning, and welcome to the Guardian’s coverage of the first full day of Pope Francis’s visit to Cuba. | Good morning, and welcome to the Guardian’s coverage of the first full day of Pope Francis’s visit to Cuba. |
| The pope is due to celebrate mass in Revolution Square in Havana at 9am ET (6am PT, 2pm UK). After that, in the afternoon, he will visit President Raúl Castro at the Palace of the Revolution. Following that, he will meet Cuban Catholics, old and young. | The pope is due to celebrate mass in Revolution Square in Havana at 9am ET (6am PT, 2pm UK). After that, in the afternoon, he will visit President Raúl Castro at the Palace of the Revolution. Following that, he will meet Cuban Catholics, old and young. |
| Pope Francis arrived in Cuba on Saturday, and gave a speech in which he called for the US and Cuba to set a “global example of reconciliation” – a call he was well placed to make, having played a major role in the recent thaw between the two countries which has seen embassies reopen and Republicans in the US seethe at another of Barack Obama’s foreign policy goals. Our report, from Jonathan Watts in Havana and Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome, is here. | Pope Francis arrived in Cuba on Saturday, and gave a speech in which he called for the US and Cuba to set a “global example of reconciliation” – a call he was well placed to make, having played a major role in the recent thaw between the two countries which has seen embassies reopen and Republicans in the US seethe at another of Barack Obama’s foreign policy goals. Our report, from Jonathan Watts in Havana and Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome, is here. |
| Adam Brereton will be anchoring our live coverage today – he’ll be here shortly. For further reading before he arrives, here’s an analysis piece by Peter Stanford, who says: | Adam Brereton will be anchoring our live coverage today – he’ll be here shortly. For further reading before he arrives, here’s an analysis piece by Peter Stanford, who says: |
| The world has responded to the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires with enthusiasm on account of his warmth, humility, spontaneity and habit of going off-script as far as the doctrines of his church are concerned. But Francis is also, in his own words, “a little furbo” – ie, shrewd, clever, an operator. This less remarked-on side has been seen in the way he is systematically reforming the corrupt, bloated Vatican curia (civil service) and straightening out its dodgy bank … | |
| Updated at 2.15pm BST |