"The Holy Father, through his secretary of state, asked Fidel Castro during his visit to the Vatican that the 25th of December be a holiday," Cardinal Ortega told a news conference. "There is no concrete indication until now if there is going to be a holiday or not." The officially atheist Communist government abolished Christmas as a holiday in 1969 because it was interfered with the sugar harvest. Since some restrictions on religious worship were lifted in 1991, more families are celebrating the day even though it remains a day of work.
Cardinal Ortega called on Cubans to celebrate Christmas this year in a special way to prepare for the January 21-25 visit of Pope John Paul. The cardinal made a point to compliment the government for allowing a series of open-air Masses that concluded on Monday's Feast of the Immaculate Conception.