Cuban Catholics mark Good Friday

Cuban Catholics celebrated Good Friday with a Stations of the Cross procession in Havana on Friday (March 29).

A solemn procession left the baroque colonial-era Havana Cathedral and marched through the streets of Old Havana.

While religious public holidays were banned on the island following Fidel Castro's revolution in 1959, Good Friday was reinstated in 2012 after a request was made by Pope Benedict while he was visiting the country.

While most of Cuba was Roman Catholic through the first half of the 20th century, Catholicism was greatly restricted during the decades following the Cuban Revolution.

The Church has worked fervently to expand its influence in Cuban society and was instrumental in the release of political prisoners.