peace and recommend reconciliation as well as better relations between the u.s. and cuba. chris cuomo is joining us live from revolution square this morning in havana. i know his calls for religious freedom don t just have to do with religion. he is hoping it includes opening schools, that it includes some sort of acts of charity on people s parts, that it resonates more with everybody, not just some 27%, i think i saw, that identify as catholics there in cuba. reporter: i think you make a strong point. it s not just for the religious faithful. it s also for simply the cuban hopeful. the word that they resonate with is freedom. whether it s religious or secular, whether it s about speech, castro yesterday said religious freedom is a central t tenant and surprised a lot of people here.
feels there. what is the energy like? reporter: you know, this is one of those situations where you have to be there to really get it, because the energy that is coming off this crowd is significant. when they are saying prayers, there is such intentionality in the words and goes far beyond any dogma of religion and this is about faith and not religion here. they are catholic and they heard word of this image of jesus being in revolution square for the first time. you see it there. you see how far back the crowd goes. you hear them talking about that. the message below saying come to me from jesus and that means something to catholics here. there is suppression of faith. castro said yesterday that religious freedom is a central tenet of the constitution but they say the country is moving in the right direction but at what rate? people are here to hear the pope and hear his words.
and to those who need the most. you have to know who he is as a man to understand who he is becoming as pope. that is what we will give you in this special. by all accounts, he was a pretty typical teenager. being a teenager, he would go and stand and he would participate at parties. [ speaking in foreign language ] reporter: did he dance well? translator: yes, he danced well. and he liked it. he would go dancing every saturday at the parties at the that the club hosted. reporter: we showed you this part of it because, you know, he is a regular man. that is his friend oscar. they have been friends since 13 and still friends and he calls him on the phone and teases him about football. you get to understand the man and his passions and you see a
happened before. one said he has never seen them putting up an image of jesus christ and then that message underneath, come to me. people are waiting here. pope mentioned fidel castro in his hackers and said please send my respect and considerations with your brother fidel. will they meet? we will find out. they didn t reveal what they said behind closed doors but the fact he is reaching out for take dell is significant. chris, you have a special coming up? reporter: yes. cnn put together a documentary on the pope because this fascination with francis is about who he is and what we saw in going back to where he was in buenos aires. this missionary of misery, he wants to tend to the forgotten
here and it s real and they know. this is the way the day sets pup. the mass at 9:00 a.m. and an hour and a half, a full mass. you hear the music this tested behind us. it is going to be a very, very glor onnious presentation and ceremony. on your screen, you ll hear the big events. when the pope meets with cuban government officials that could mean meeting with fidel castro. we don t know about that yet. what is happening with the 2,000 young people that get to meet pope francis is they are going to have wi-fi and they are going to be encouraged to send messages into social media. remember where we are. this is cuba. you take wi-fi and social media for granted. not here. few have regular access to internet. the cell towers are here to block messages. when the pope went through the