HAVANA,
CUBA – (ANS)- Pope Benedict XVI is set to pay a visit to Cuba
this spring. Soon after the Vatican confirmed the trip, President Raul Castro
promised to release 2,900 prisoners.

This has been revealed by Stan
Jeter, CBN News Senior Producer (www.cbn.com/cbnnews), who
in a story said, “The move was seen as a humanitarian gesture as many of
the prisoners are old and infirm. Some have already been released.

“The 1998 visit of Pope John
Paul II improved relations between the communist government and the Catholic
Church. But Pope Benedict’s coming visit is already benefiting the island’s
evangelical Christians.”

Jeter, who was born in Cuba of
missionary parents, went on to say that last Christmas, the government took the
unusual step of allowing evangelicals to hold their celebrations in public
places around the country.

“I believe the authorities are
understanding that the gospel of Jesus Christ is a blessing for the Cuban
family and for our nation,” Dr. Victor Samuel Gonzalez, president of the
Baptist Convention of Western Cuba, told CBN News.

“Therefore, they’re slowly
opening the doors to allow us Christians to express our faith in the Lord
publicly,” he said. “And we praise God for that.”

Cuba’s believers are calling it a
victory.

“God did more than we could
have imagined,” one young Cuban said.

“We’re living in a historic
hour because what is happening today was only a dream for us before,”
another Cuban resident said.

Jeter added, “For decades,
Cuban Christians have prayed for the opportunity to express their faith openly
in public. The Christmas rallies took place in many cities, including one in
Cienfuegos.

“That rally included adult and
children’s choirs and different pastors addressing the crowds.

“Cuban believers, who have
lived with limitations and restrictions for years, are hoping these public
rallies will be followed by new freedoms for the Cuban church.”

Note: CBN News Senior Producer, Stan
Jeter, specializes in Christian news and Latin American coverage. He has lived
and worked for many years in South and Central America, most recently
developing the Spanish Christian news program, Mundo Cristiano. Stan was the
founding producer for Christian World News and creator of the Global News
Alliance.

To watch Jeter’s video report,
please go to: www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2012/January/Popes-Visit-Dawn-of-New-Era-for-Cubas-Christians/

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About Dan Wooding

Dan Wooding is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 46 years. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST
(Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service
(ANS).

Wooding was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC., and now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California and which is also carried on the Calvary Radio Network throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK. Wooding also a regular contributor to The Weekend Stand on the Crawford Broadcasting Network, and a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 192 countries. He is the author of some 43 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books.

To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, also recently released “God’s Ambassadors in Japan” which is available at amazon.com.

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