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The official ceremony took
place in the Palace of the Revolution and included
official talks
BY NIDIA DIAZ—Granma
daily staff writer—
FIDEL Castro Ruz, president of the
Councils of State and Ministers of Cuba, welcomed
His Holiness Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch
of the Greek Orthodox Church to our country.
Afterwards, official talks took place in a
respectful and cordial atmosphere. During the
meeting, the patriarch expressed gratitude for the
invitation to visit our nation and the warm
welcome that he had received.
The official reception ceremony took
place at the Palace of the Revolution before the
Cuban and Patriarchy flags.
On one side of the room stood the
delegations representing Cuba and the Patriarchy
at the welcoming ceremony and both the host and
honored guest greeted and conversed with those
present.
Representing Cuba were Ricardo
Alarcón, president of the National Assembly of
People’s Power; Carlos Lage, secretary of the
Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers;
Abel Prieto, minister of culture minister; Felipe
Pérez Roque, minister of foreign affairs; José R.
Miyar Barruecos, secretary of the Council of
State; Caridad Diego, head of the Religious
Affairs Department of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party; Eusebio Leal, historian of the
City of Havana; and Carlos Valenciaga, member of
the Council of State.
On behalf of the Patriarchy, His
Eminence Atenagoras, Archbishop for Central
America and the Caribbean, together with other
leaders of the Orthodox Church, were present at
the ceremony.
Shortly after 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday
January 21, Patriarch Bartholomew arrived in Cuba
on an Olympic airline flight and was met by our
president as well as Cuban religious and
government leaders.
The distinguished visitor was
welcomed by a group of Cuban children who
presented him with a beautiful bouquet of flowers
to demonstrate our people’s respect for his
visit.
More than one hundred followers from
this church, especially invited from all parts of
the world for the occasion, were waiting in the
terminal area to welcome His Holiness on his
arrival in Havana.
Today Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew will continue the program planned for
his visit, which ends on Monday. (Granma) January, 22 2004
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