Cuba Pardons Thousands of Prisoners Ahead of Pope Francis Visit

Cuba Pardons Thousands of Prisoners Ahead of Pope Francis Visit
By Jack Moore 9/11/15 at 12:45 PM

The Cuban government pardoned thousands of prisoners on Friday in a
goodwill gesture before the arrival of Pope Francis on a visit to the
communist country, according to government newspaper Granma.

The government is to release 3,522 prisoners, the largest number freed
since 1959 when former president Fidel Castro launched an armed
revolution against the U.S.-backed government of then-president
Fulgencio Batista. The timing of the prisoners' release was not revealed.

"On the occasion of the visit by His Holiness Pope Francis, the Council
of State of the Republic of Cuba [the highest governmental body] ...
agreed to pardon 3,522 prisoners, chosen due to the nature of the acts
for which they were jailed, their behavior in prison, the time of
punishment and health concerns," the government newspaper said,
according to AFP news agency.

Pope Francis, 78, is to spend three days on his visit to Cuba and may
meet with Castro if his health permits and will be decided at the last
moment, three senior Vatican officials told Bloomberg.

The Catholic leader will also meet the current Cuban president and
brother of Fidel, Raul Castro, at Havana's Palace of the Revolution on
September 20. The pair previously met during Castro's visit to the
Vatican in May to discuss the Cuban-U.S. relationship.

The pontiff helped to mediate the recent rapprochement between Havana
and the U.S. and will visit Washington, New York and Philadelphia after
his visit to the communist island, that takes place between September 19
and 22.

Francis's visit will be the third by a Pope to the country. Previous
visits have proved productive for the Catholic Church. Fidel Castro, now
89, reinstated Christmas following a 1998 visit by Pope John Paul II.
Castro had declared the country atheist following the revolution and
scrapped December 25 as a public holiday in 1969 so that workers could
focus on the sugar harvest.

Francis, who has sought to change the image of the Vatican, announced
last week that the Holy See would accept two refugee families and called
on Catholic institutions across Europe to follow suit.

"Faced with the tragedy of tens of thousands of refugees who are fleeing
death by war and by hunger, and who are on a path toward a hope for
life, the Gospel calls us to be neighbors to the smallest and most
abandoned, to give them concrete hope," the pope said, addressing a
crowd of thousands of people at St. Peter's Square.

But offering words of hope and encouragement are not enough, he added.
"May every parish, every religious community, every monastery, every
sanctuary in Europe host a family, starting with my diocese of Rome."

Source: Cuba Pardons Thousands of Prisoners Ahead of Pope Francis Visit
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http://europe.newsweek.com/cuba-pardons-thousands-prisoners-ahead-pope-francis-visit-332850