Pope Francis to lead Havana mass next to giant image of Che Guevara

[DonViejo]

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
04 AUG 2015 AT 09:15 ET

Workers in Cuba have begun building the altar where Pope Francis will deliver mass during a landmark visit next month, placing it just to the left of a giant image of Che Guevara.

Francis, who hails from Argentina like the famous revolutionary, will visit Cuba September 19 to 22 as part of a tour that will later take him to the United States.

He will give a mass on September 20 in Havana’s Plaza de la Revolucion. The sprawling central square is bordered on one side by the interior ministry; its facade sports a giant sculpted outline of Guevara’s face.

The 36-meter (118-foot) work is based on an iconic 1960 photo of Guevara by Alberto Korda that has also been reproduced on T-shirts and posters worldwide.

Guevara, who fought alongside Fidel Castro to overthrow dictator Fulgencio Batista in the 1959 Cuban Revolution, has been a symbol of Marxist revolution since his capture and execution in Bolivia in 1967 at age 39.

Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI also gave masses near the giant Guevara image during trips to Cuba in 1998 and 2012, respectively.

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http://www.rawstory.com/2015/08/pope-francis-to-lead-havana-mass-next-to-giant-image-of-che-guevara/

[DetlefK]

1. Yeah... actually Che Guevara was a horrible person.

http://www.thecommentator.com/article/3657/che_guevara_was_no_hero_he_was_a_racist

- He was a racist.
- He rooted for the Cold War going nuclear.
- He personally oversaw executions.
- He publicly defended the North Korean Regime.
- He mourned the death of Joseph Stalin.

[edhopper]

5. maybe you can find a less

Reactionary RW source.

Not saying it's wrong (don't know enough) but that source is problematic.

[Bluenorthwest]

2. The Cuban Revolution put gay men in forced labor camps, later it was camps for people with HIV

Francis will be right at home, Castro spoke of his Revolution in the same way Francis speaks of his Church:
"We would never come to believe that a homosexual could embody the conditions and requirements of conduct that would enable us to consider him a true Revolutionary, a true Communist militant. A deviation of that nature clashes with the concept we have of what a militant Communist must be."

"In the country there are no homosexuals." Fidel.

These all come from Che's own Motorcycle Diaries:
"The black is indolent and a dreamer; spending his meager wage on frivolity or drink; the European has a tradition of work and saving, which has pursued him as far as this corner of America and drives him to advance himself, even independently of his own individual aspirations."

"The episode upset us a little because the poor man, apart from being homosexual and a first-rate bore, had been very nice to us, giving us 10 soles each, bringing our total to 479 for me and 163 1/2 to Alberto."

"The first person we hit on was the mayor, someone called Cohen; we had heard a lot about him, that he was Jewish as far as money was concerned but a good sort."


So Francis is going to be very much at home. 'Jewish but a good sort'. Nice 'apart from being homosexual'. It makes my skin crawl to read that stuff.

[rug]

4. The leaders were also atheists.

[rug]

3. Here it is.

[edhopper]

6. So?

It's Cuba and he is a hero there.
There would be questionable monuments in any country he goes to.