Pope Francis tells young Cubans to 'fall in love with Jesus', help build church of tomorrow

Pope Francis on Saturday invited young people of Cuba to have courage and to work together to build up the Cuban Church of tomorrow.

In a video message, which the Vatican said had been recorded last month, the pontiff told them never to fear to hear God’s call and to work for the advancement of the Catholic Church in Cuba.

“Dear young people, I encourage you to fall in love with Jesus and to have an ever more concrete commitment to the service of the Church in this concrete Cuba of today, without fear of hearing God’s call in everyday situations. Good patriots, love your land, love your country! Be generous and open your heart to the Lord! May the next World Youth Day in Panama and that of Cuba in Santiago be not the purpose of the effort you are making, but rather a step beyond that. May you discover that it is an opportunity to deepen one’s faith processes and to build the Cuban Church of today and tomorrow, the Cuban homeland of today and tomorrow; knowing that you are not alone and that we build only out of the concrete community to which we belong, where we commit or lives and carry out our vocation. I invite you to always move forward: look ahead, love your nation, love Jesus and may Our Lady watch over you. Courage!”, the Pope said.

Speaking about upcoming World Youth Day gatherings that will take place in Cuba and Panama ,Francis adds that they represent an opportunity to build the Cuban Church of today and tomorrow.

The leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics sent the video message after Cuba’s new president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, began his term on Thursday April, 19 as president of the Caribbean island.

Diaz-Canel is the first non-Castro president in more than 40 years.

Reuter