Havana - Representatives of different denominations and creeds from Cuba, stressed today the significance and importance of the visit Pope Francis will carry out here from September 19 to 22.

In statements to Trabajadores newspaper, the executive secretary of the Cuban Council of Churches, Damaris Gonzalez, stated that the papal visit is an opportunity for the country, the churches and the fraternal movements. This is a door to open to the world and reveal the daily life of the people, she said.

I praise the Pope comes as a Missionary of Mercy, a motto we share with him, because somehow many organizations of faith and Christian spirituality promote we are all emissaries of that mercy, and not seeing it as assistentialism or mercy, but as generosity, altruism, and human benefit, she said.

On the other hand, the president of the Hebrew Bnai Brith Maimonides lodge in the capital, Samuel Zagovalov, said that there is a Latin American Pope for the first time in history: "European hegemony in the Vatican broke and that makes us feel that Pope Francis is closer to us and knows us better," she said.

Since his inauguration, Francis has faced with courage and humility situations that remained long shelved, they were taboo subjects, she noted.

Unquestionably, he is a Pope for changes, with a more earthly goal, which engages in misery and hunger in the great conflicts and differences that overwhelm humanity, she said.

We hope the Pope's visit with great love and respect, she said.