Fidel Castro Attends Mass in Honor of Pope John Paul II
Cuban President Fidel Castro attended on Monday a TV broadcast mass offered by Cardinal Jaime Ortega in honor of late Pope John Paul II at Havana Cathedral.

High ranking State and Communist Party leaders, as well as ministers, religious authorities and Papal Nuncio Luigi Bonazzi also attended the mass.

A highlight in the ceremony in memory of the late Pope was a homily preached by Cardinal Jaime Ortega.

Ortega thanked Fidel Castro and the Cuban people, believers and nonbelievers alike, for the deep sympathy with which they received the Supreme Pontiff´s death.

He recognized the Pope´s merits in facing a difficult time of mankind.

He recalled the Pope´s work for world peace, Christian unity, a rapprochement between Jews and the Vatican, promotion of dialogue and understanding between science and faith.

He said Church and the world have lost a man that is an example in his firm ethical stand and his ability to see the present time of humankind with mercy and fatherly tenderness.

More than one thousand Cubans of all walks of life attended the ceremony in the presence of members of the diplomatic corps accredited in Havana.