海角大神

Pope Francis in Cuba: 'We do not serve ideas, we serve people'

During his first Sunday mass in Cuba, Pope Francis, focused his sermon on the need to serve others. 

Pope Francis spoke out on the need to serve and the evils of pride to thousands of Cubans who attended Sunday鈥檚 morning mass in Havana.

Speaking at the Revolutionary Square on the backdrop of massive portraits of revolutionary leaders Ernesto 鈥淐he鈥� Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos, as well as a giant poster of Jesus, the Pope warned when others are excluded, Reuters reports.

鈥淪ervice is never ideological, for we do not serve ideas, we serve people,鈥� the Pope said in his sermon. 鈥淒o not neglect them (others) for plans which can be seductive, but are unconcerned about the face of the person beside you.鈥�

Pope Francis added: 鈥淎ll of us are called by virtue of our 海角大神 vocation to that service which truly serves, and to help one another not to be tempted by a 鈥榮ervice鈥� which is really 鈥榮elf-serving.'鈥�

Pope Francis鈥檚 message could be taken as an , since the revolutionary square is as much the center of government as of revolution, the Guardian notes.

After Sunday鈥檚 mass in Havana, Pope Francis and exchanged gifts, the Associated Press reports. 聽The meeting lasted for around 30-40 minutes.

Papal spokesman Federico Lombardi said during the conversation, Fidel wanted to reflect on big issues and questions facing the world and humanity. Francis' recent encyclical on the environment and the global economic system was discussed. Lombardi said that the 2012 visit of Benedict XVI, when Fidel peppered him with questions, the meeting with Francis was more of a conversation.

Lombardi said that out of respect for the family and the informality of the encounter, no photographs would be released. He said that the decision to not release any images had been taken during the discussions with Cuban authorities to set up the meeting.

The Roman Catholic church has since the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro that established communist rule in Cuba, according to the BBC. 聽

Pope Francis is聽credited with brokering聽last December's diplomatic deal after the decades-old enmity between Cuba and the US.

Prior to the Pope鈥檚 visit, Cuba released more than 3,500 prisoners聽鈥� the largest official pardon since 1959. This was the third time Cuba has granted inmates freedom before a papal visit. In 1998, Cuba freed about 300 prisoners, including 101 political prisoners, ahead of Pope John Paul鈥檚 visit. In 2012, ahead of a visit by Pope Benedict XVI, Cuba released 2,900 prisoners.

The most notable recent release occurred in January 2015, when Havana pardoned聽聽as part of the breakthrough December 17 US-Cuba agreement and included many known to international human rights groups as "prisoners of conscience," Reuters reported.