Pope gets warm welcome in Cuba

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This was the moment a lone protester made his presence felt before Pope Benedict XVI presided over a mass in Santiago de Cuba.

The man, yelling 'down with communism' was quickly detained by Cuban authorities.

The pontiff's officials said it was a minor incident and that there had been no threat to the Pontiff's security.

Thousands turned out to greet the Pope and attend mass during which he said he recognised the daily sacrifice made by Cubans and that the Church would draw closer.

Just three days after saying that Communism no longer works in Cuba, the 84-year-old Pope delivered a carefully worded, nuanced and balanced speech less direct in its criticism of Cuba's one-party system, but included some thinly-veiled comments on its human rights record.

Pope Benedict's visit coincides with the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the Virgin of Caridad of El Cobre by fishermen, who found her floating in the sea.

Decades of hostility followed Cuba's 1959 revolution but Church-state relations have improved steadily in recent years, helped by Pope John Paul II's landmark visit in 1998.

Benedict is trying to cement the Church's recent gains in Cuba and offer more help in assuring that whatever transition comes is buffered by its social programmes.