Stage for Pope’s Mass in Revolution Square Being Built

HAVANA TIMES, Feb 21 — Construction crews began erecting a giant stage last week in Revolution Square, where Pope Benedict XVI will officiate an outdoor Mass next month.

Unlike the altar set up for John Paul II in 1998, which was in front of the National Library of Cuba, this one will have the Jose Marti monument as its backdrop, along with the image of Ernesto Guevara on a wall in in front.

“We’re constructing the main staircase and the platform on which the Pope will conduct Mass,” said the architect in charge of the work being done in coordination with the Havana Archdiocese.

Benedict XVI will also give a Mass in a park in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba, where he will arrive on the island on March 26.