Cuba Becomes “Work Break” on Good Friday After 53 Years

After 53 years without a Good Friday public holiday, this April 6 Cuba had his first break working on the island, after Pope Benedict XVI visited the island just over a week.

The measure the Council of Ministers announced three days after the Pope and he left Cuba to Raul Castro asked that Good Friday is not a working day.

The Cuban authorities announced that the “work break” serious “exceptional circumstances” for this year and left in the hands of “the higher bodies of the nation’s final determination” on this subject.

Given the holiday, hundreds of people took to the streets to accompany the image of Christ during the Stations of the Cross procession. Also, the Cubans were able to hear Mass through an open transmission channels Cuban state television.

Berta Soler spokesman for the Ladies in White devoted a few words Cardinal Jaime Ortega, who in the pre-Mass procession called for forgiveness between the Cubans at the Mass before the procession.

“We will continue the peaceful struggle for the freedom of our loved ones but also for a new Cuba, because human rights are respected in our country,” said Soler.

(BG)