He’s a man of awe. A man of power. A man of emotion. A man of strength. A man of compassion. A man of honor. A man of wisdom. And a man of respect.

Pope John Paul II arrived in Cuba yesterday, marking a first for papal visits to the Caribbean island nation.

It’s been analyzed in the media as a contrast of leaders. There’s the pope, and then there’s Cuba’s communist dictator, Fidel Castro. Castro is known for his dislike of the United States, relations with the former Soviet Union and revolutionary days when he took over the country.

Despite his hardline philosophy, people are wondering whether Castro is softening. Communism welcoming Catholicism isn’t exactly an everyday thing.

Within recent years, Castro lifted a government ban on religious meetings. Before that, Cubans, who are flooding the streets of Havana and other cities this week, couldn’t meet to celebrate their religion in a church or in any other gathering.

The dominant religion in Cuba is not Catholicism. According to a U.S. News and World Report article, Santeria — a mix of Catholicism and African beliefs brought to the country by slaves — is the most popular religious sect. Despite this fact, the pope is a beacon of light to Cubans of all faiths.

Historically, the pope has been a powerful figure not only in religion, but also in politics. During the times of kings and queens dominating the European landscape, the pope was a dominant force, and sometimes corrupt. But Pope John Paul is dominant in a different way. He doesn’t have his hands in politics, but his words have an important impact on governments and on the world.

When the pope is out in public, so are masses of people. He is a symbol of hope and salvation to many. He brings emotion into people’s hearts — he did for me.

I have never really seen the pope, but I have come close. Since I am Catholic, I would really like to physically see the pope, but close was enough for me — at least for now.

When I traveled to Mexico for a high school Spanish Club trip, we had to alter our itinerary because the pope was visiting the city of M‚rida. We wouldn’t be allowed access into the city. In the other town we visited, every shop and restaurant had a television with the pope on the screen.

When we finally arrived in M‚rida the day after the pope left, I was amazed at the gigantic banners of the Catholic leader adorning streets and buildings. Mexicans were watching recaps of the visits on their televisions and reading more about the event in the newspaper. I was astonished by the environment, and I was even a day late. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to be there the day before.

My second chance to see Pope John Paul was this past summer. While backpacking through Europe this summer, we stopped in Rome. We were just walking around one day when we came upon this pretty cool cathedral. After entering the massive doorway, all I could do was look up and marvel at how beautiful the paintings on the ceiling were.

We came upon a mass in a tiny part of the cathedral and there were confessionals with priests speaking several different languages. I was amazed. Only when I stopped to think, did I realize I was in St. Peter’s Basilica — the church from which the pope addresses and says mass to crowds of people in the square.

But that was nothing. After waiting in a two mile long line the next morning, we toured Vatican City — its museums and the Sistine Chapel. But the best (and the most tiring) was when we climbed about 2,000 steps to the top of the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica. From there we could see the entire Vatican City grounds, and I was trying to speculate which building the pope lived in. To me, it was a fantastic experience and another possible encounter with the pope, even though I have no idea whether the pope was in residence or away on a trip.

Simply the aura of the Catholic leader (and the nuns in white working at the gift shops) was inspiring.

I cannot imagine how important his visit to Cuba is to the people of that country. Since Cubans are recently reveling in open organized religion, the papal tour must be simply overwhelming. In Wednesday’s USA Today, an article reported that one Cuban woman was so overcome by emotion during preparations that she collapsed. That may sound a little cheesy to some people, but imagine the joy of people who have been suppressed by communism for so many years.

The papal visit is definitely a remarkable time in history. But there’s so much more to this visit than the meeting of Castro and Pope John Paul. Any of his visits are of importance to the region which he is visiting. He is a symbol of peace, inspiration, respect and so much more to the entire world. And this week he is blessing Cubans of all faiths with this presence.

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Erin Payne is a senior in journalism and mass communication and political science from Rock Rapids.