Word: popes
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Here in Havana, Cubans are of very mixed minds about the Pope's visit. "So many people do not even know who the Pope is," says Enrique Lopez Oliva, a professor of religious history at the University of Havana. Is he a President, a businessman? Is Fidel paying him to come? Even many Catholics are ignorant of the papal biography and doctrinal bent. In a country where abortion ends roughly 40% of all pregnancies and copulation begins in early adolescence, Cubans will be shocked by John Paul II's stern views on sex. His reverence for the family will seem...
Nonetheless, the Cuban government knows these five days are fraught with risk. The Pope has been as hard on Marxist repression as on "savage capitalism," and his critique of Castro's human-rights record in full view of 3,000 foreign journalists could sting. Instead of spotlighting a "normal" country at its most open, benign moment, the way Castro hopes, the press might fill their dispatches with lurid stories of teenage prostitutes and an oppressed, despairing citizenry...
...Cuban Comandante. At the same time, the regime will seek to replenish the threadbare rhetoric of the revolution by emphasizing the moral link between Christian and socialist ideas. A papal critique of unbridled capitalism is anticipated by the socialist government. Officials hope the reception they accord the Pope will accelerate the rapprochement between religious and secular segments of society...
Ricardo Alarcon, president of the National Assembly of People's Power, met with TIME correspondents last week in Havana to talk about the Pope's visit, Castro and Cuba. Excerpts: TIME: A lot of Cuban people expect that the Pope's visit will alter U.S. policy toward Cuba. You don't really think that's true...
...face it, the Pope is a snappy dresser. When he visits Cuba this week, he will be donning at least half a dozen outfits. But John Paul II isn't just a Beau Brummel; most of his wardrobe has a symbolic religious aspect. The Italian firm Gammarelli's has served as a papal tailor for nearly 200 years. The Vatican also has its own seamstresses, and there are four black-robed nuns who oversee his considerable laundry. Using your very own John Paul II cutout doll, you can create your favorite papal ensembles...