The President of the Councils of State and Ministers, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, bid farewell to Pope Francis and his delegation at the Antonio Maceo International Airport.
The Pontiff is currently making his way to the United States, on the second part of his tour, where he will be received by President Barack Obama. There he will speak at a joint session of the U.S. Congress and before the UN General Assembly in New York.
On September 26, he will officiate a mass in Philadelphia and participate in the World Meeting of Families. Before leaving the island, he thanked the Cuban people for their hospitality and warm welcome.
On his last day in Cuba, the Bishop of Rome completed a busy schedule of activities which began with a mass in the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre. Later he held a meeting with Cuban families in the Cathedral of Santiago de Cuba and blessed the entire city from the church’s vestibule.
During his sermon the highlighted the role of the family, calling for every family to be a welcoming space of giving and peace…”the family is a school which teaches humanity…To leave a world full of families if the best legacy. Perfect families do not exist; which is why we must cherish our family, true spaces of freedom, true centers of humanity.” To end, as is his custom, he asked that: You pray for me.