Havana, Cuba, Mar 31, 2012 / 15:22 pm
In response to Pope Benedict XVI’s specific request to Cuban President Raúl Castro, the Cuban government has announced that this coming Good Friday will be a one-time national holiday.
The government’s short statement, published March 31 in the official newspaper “Granma,” said that the Pope requested the holiday declaration “in honor of the religious celebrations that take place on the occasion of the passion and death of Jesus of Nazareth.”
Minutes before the Pope’s departure from Cuba on March 28, President Raúl Castro told the Pope of his desire to declare Friday, April 6 a holiday “as an exception, and in consideration to His Holiness and the happy results of this transcendental visit to our country.”
However, authorities will decide in the future whether the holiday will become permanent.