[Martin Savidge, Cnn Correspondent:] By the thousands, people in the formally-atheist nation of Cuba have turned out to greet the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. The arrival of Pope John Paul II...
[Lucia Newman, Cnn Havana Bureau Chief:] The significance of Pope John Paul II's trip to Cuba was that it gave many, many Cubans a greater sense of openness, of freedom to speak about the things that they cared about.
[Unidentified Female:] It's a dream. I feel like something monumental has happened. It's a magnanimous event.
[Harris Whitbeck, Cnn Mexico City Bureau Chief:] The atmosphere was just absolutely incredible. It was one of the most historic moments I have ever had the good luck of being a part of. The energy that you could feel that was there was almost palpable, and that energy was you could feel that throughout the streets of Havana and in the other streets of the other towns that the pope visited. I think a lot of Cubans were out there mostly out of curiosity than out of religious fervor.
[Newman:] People were rather reluctant to show openly that they were Catholics, to carry crosses on their chests, but after the pope came that changed completely. There has not been political changes here, but perhaps what the most significant message for Cuba was when the pope called for Cuba to open up to the world and for the world to open up to this country, and that certainly did happen as a result of the pope's visit. Cuba somehow felt, and Cubans felt, they were breaking out of their isolation.