More than 300 people headed to Cuba with the Catholic Archdiocese of Miami Monday morning to celebrate Pope Benedict XVI's historic visit to the island.
Priests, nuns, pilgrims and others lined up to check in for two charter flights to Santiago de Cuba at Miami International Airport as part of a delegation led by Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski.
Wenski said Benedict's visit to the island is about faith and hope.
"We think that this will be a great religious experience and we hope that it brings more faith and more hope to Cuba," Wenski said. "The pope is a part of that future."
Benedict's visit will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the statue of the Virgin of Charity, patroness of Cuba. Benedict will be following in the footsteps of Pope John Paul II, who made the first papal visit to the island in 1998.
The visit has drawn some criticism from South Florida's Cuban community, as tensions in Cuba between dissidents and communist party leaders were reportedly rising ahead of the trip.
Mary Louise Travis, who was traveling to Cuba as part of the delegation, said it would be her first trip back since 1959.
"It's like a Disneyland trip through a prison," Travis said.
Wenski also commented on sexual abuse charges filed in Miami last week against a former priest at St. Augustine's Catholic Church in Coral Gables. An ex-altar boy says the abuse happened between 1971 and 1975.
Wenski said the church is dealing with it. He noted the charges of abuse come from "over 30 years ago. It's ancient history," he said.
Wenski said last week that Benedict is bringing a new message to Cuba.
"Well, I think for 50 years people have heard on the island a discourse that is inspired by hatred. The pope is going to give a message of love and the meaning is that love will be more constructive for a better future for Cuba than the usual narrative that has been heard on the island," Wenski said.
Benedict arrived in Cuba Monday for the three-day trip. Wenski will assist with the pope's two planned Masses in Havana and Santiago, and he will say Mass himself in Havana's cathedral.
