Pope Francis celebrated Mass in Havana's Revolution Square on Sunday and met with former leader Fidel Castro but warned Cubans against the dangers of ideology as their country enters a new era of closer ties with the United States.
Tens of thousands of people were in the square where Cubans celebrate May Day beneath massive portraits of revolutionary leaders Ernesto "Che" Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos built into the facades of state buildings.
To welcome the pope, who helped bring about the recent rapprochement between Cuba and the United States, a similarly giant poster of Jesus Christ was hung nearby.
To welcome the pope, who helped bring about the recent rapprochement between Cuba and the United States, a similarly giant poster of Jesus Christ was hung nearby.
The 78-year-old Argentine pontiff read a mostly religious homily but sprinkled it with criticism of "elitism" and ideology.
"Service is never ideological for we do not serve ideas, we serve people," he said in his homily of the Mass, which was attended by President Raul Castro and top members of the communist government.
Francis later met with Fidel Castro, who led Cuba's 1959 revolution and then built a one-party state that improved health and education services for Cubans but also limits democratic freedoms and represses dissent.
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