Apr 25, 2012 / 15:09 pm
Cuban dissident Andres Carrion said he did not intend to offend the Catholic Church when he shouted “freedom” during the papal Mass in the country on March 26.
“It was not my intention to tarnish the Mass, and I have said so to various priests I have spoken with and they have understood me,” he said. “I am a Catholic and I didn’t have any intention to harm the Church or the image of the Pope.”
Minutes before Pope Benedict XVI began Mass at Antonio Maceo Revolutionary Square in Santiago during his recent visit, Carrion shouted, “Down with Communism! Down with the dictatorship! Freedom for the people of Cuba!”
He was quickly subdued by state-security agents and beaten by a supposed member of the Red Cross.