New nuncio presides over Mass for Peace
For: Yarelis Rico Hernández
Photos. Yandry Fernández Perdomo
With the celebration of the Mass for Peace in the Havana Cathedral, the Catholic Church in Cuba officially presented this 1st. January to the new nuncio of His Holiness on the Island, Mons. Giampero Gloder, who presided over the religious ceremony that begins the new civil year and in which peace is especially requested.
“A year of serenity for Cuba, for our families and for each one of us” was the initial request that Mons. Gloder made God. Later, in his homily, he invited us to put this 2020 under the protection and gaze of the Virgin Mary.
The new representative of the Vatican on the Island shared some elements of Pope Francis’ message for the celebration of this World Day of Peace, so that each person could reflect on their experience, improve, and be a builder of a better world.
When asked how to break the logic of threat and fear to build a world of peace, Mons. Gloder highlighted the response given by the Pontiff: “we must build a true fraternity that exercises us in trust and dialogue.” In this sense, he explained the paths given by the Holy Father: “listening, communion and economic conversion.” The first two, he said, make us wonder if we know how to forgive, respect the other and recognize the brother in that other.
Given the great lack of respect for our common home and the disproportionate exploitation of natural resources, the nuncio highlighted the path of economic conversion, which translates into an invitation to contemplate all of Creation with eyes of wonder. “Economic conversion – he specified – means looking at the world with greater respect for nature, God and all of his Creation.”
Recognizing the difficulties involved in embarking on the path of reconciliation and peace, he invited everyone to have patience, trust and firmly believe in the possibility of building a world of peace. At the end of his first homily in Cuba, he prayed to the Virgin of Charity of Cobre to continue accompanying the Cuban people.