Audience With The Pope

For Victor Velazquez, a 22-year-old business student at Wolfson Campus, his pilgrimage to see Pope Francis in Cuba was humbling.

Velazquez, along with his sister and cousins, heard about the trip organized by the Archdiocese of Miami from his Italian born and deeply religious grandfather, who encouraged them to attend the trip because of its historical and religious significance.

“It was his gift to us,” said Velazquez, who is taking a semester off from his College studies.

When the pope announced his trip back in June, Catholics everywhere began to make plans to see him. Velazquez, his sister and  two cousins were among a group of ten, 18 to 29-year-olds, who travelled to Cuba with the Archdiocese of Miami’s Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry. He was one of 200 other Miami Catholics who paid the $800 to make the trip. 

The group met up at Miami International Airport at 5 a.m. on Sept. 19 and came back at 4 p.m. on Sept. 21. On the island, they toured Havana, saw the famous Malecón, went to see the Pope’s motorcade in Miramar and attended numerous masses including the one in Revolution Square.

“I see the Pope as energizing,” Velazquez said. “He has a different way of approaching faith.”

It was meaningful for Velazquez to see the Cuban scenery with his own eyes. He called the pilgrimage a religious experience that helped him grow closer to his faith and feel grateful about the freedom he has in the United States. As far as Velazquez’s impressions of Cuba, he found the people to be humble and kind. He felt like a celebrity because of the fact that Americans have more materially.

“We passed out rosaries and it seemed like…It seemed like a luxury to them, like trinkets,” Velazquez said.

He was unsettled that Cubans put the rosaries around their necks like an accessory. They are not meant to be worn as jewelry.  Religion and Ethics Newsweekly explained that after the 1959 Cuban revolution, religion was controlled, and priests were routinely jailed or exiled. Freedom of expression was limited. Cuba is predominantly Catholic, but only a small fraction of the people there regularly attend Mass. Although the country is officially secular about 50 % of the population is reported to be Catholic, according to the United  States Conference of Catholic Bishops. A representative from the Miami Archdiocese said the trip also served to help begin a relationship with the young church of Cuba.

While the pope did not meet with dissidents, the regime’s oppression came to light during Velazquez’s visit.

“I recall a dissident approaching the motorcade who shouted “Cuba Libre!” and they attacked the guy,” Velazquez said.

Pope Francis visited Cuban head of state Raul Castro, met with bishops at St. Basil the Great, and gave a speech at Santiago de Cuba.

Many were hoping the pope would talk about repression by the Cuban government, Velazquez said the Pontiff only spoke in code when it came to Cuban politics. The leader of the Catholic Church did encourage thawing relations between Cuba and the United States.

After his trip to the Caribbean island, Pope Francis flew by plane to Washington, D.C. on Sept. 22. During his visit in the U.S., he met with U.S. President Barack Obama, addressed congress, spoke to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, attended a multi-religious service at the 9/11 memorial and attended the Festival of Families in Philadelphia.

This was the second time Velazquez has seen a pope in person, the first being the late Pope John Paul II when the MDC student was 11. Even at a young age, he said that seeing the pope was a moving experience.

“I’m hoping it will reaffirm my faith,” Velazquez said about his aspirations for the trip before going.

When he returned, he called the trip to Cuba “awesome.”

Velazquez is steeped in the Catholic faith. He attends St. Louis Church in Pinecrest. For elementary school he attended St. Peter and Paul’s Catholic School. And he attended Belen Jesuit Preparatory School.

Although Velazquez said he likes Pope Francis, he does not agree with all of the pope’s stances on issues such as allowing LGBT members into the church. He approves of the pope’s unique way of approaching faith.

The pope has brought a new and reformed view to the church, which makes up 20.8 % of the American population. According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, nine out of ten Catholics view Pope Francis favorably.

Velazquez was struck by the amount of media publicity on the Cuba pilgrimage and their focus on human rights. Now he and his family are creating a scrapbook to give to his grandfather who cried when he saw his grandchildren on the news.

“I am eternally grateful,” Velazquez said.