Cubans Prepare Centenary of Patron

HAVANA, Cuba, AUG. 28, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Devotion to Cuba's patron, Our Lady of Cobre, is key for the reconciliation of all Cubans, both those living on the island and those who have left, affirmed the nation's episcopal conference.

The Cuban bishops are gathered through Saturday in an extraordinary plenary assembly to undertake a three-year preparation period for the fourth centenary celebrations of Our Lady of Cobre.

The image of the virgin -- a wooden statue about a foot high -- was discovered in 1612 by three fishermen: a slave and two native Indians.

Pope Benedict XV proclaimed Our Lady of Cobre patron of the island in 1916. Pope John Paul II crowned the statue of Our Lady of Cobre during his visit to the island in 1998, proclaiming her the "Mother of Reconciliation" for Cuba.

She now attracts the devotion of Catholics and non-Catholics alike, affirmed the bishops in a statement to Aid to the Church in Need.

In their message, the Cuban bishops emphasize the unity of all Cubans, whether living on or off the island. They express the hope that the social, cultural, political, economic, ideological and ethnic differences between Cubans will disappear and that "everyone will be accepted equally."

Our Lady of Cobre is the Mother of all Cubans, they add, and a "beacon of hope and the promise of a better future."

There is, they affirmed, "no event and no social process, whether joyful or painful, that is not made present in one way or another in the votive offerings, the pledges and the recollections offered by the Christian faithful from all over the country to Our Lady of Cobre."

The bishops' assembly is also launching Cuban participation in the continental mission, called for by Latin American and Caribbean bishops who gathered with Benedict XVI in 2007 in Aparecida, Brazil. The mission was officially launched this month in Ecuador.

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