Thousands of U.S. Catholics are streaming in to see the pope, 500 from South Florida alone. Historian and Benedict biographer Matthew Bunson says the pontiff “wants to give a vocal and open show of support for the Cuban church and the Cuban people — 60 to 70 percent of whom are Catholic — and translate their historic faith into a more active and vibrant Catholic life.”

Archbishop of Miami Thomas Wenski, who has been to Cuba frequently in the past decade, sees this visit as possibly as transformative as John Paul’s visit.

Wenski estimates churchgoing is still weak in Cuba — maybe just 500,000 attend Sunday Mass among the nation’s 12 million people. But when La Caridad was loaded onto a pickup and toured around the island for 15 months, an estimated 4 million people came out to greet her.

Still, the relationship between church and state is “not yet what it could be. The church doesn’t have the complete freedom it enjoys in other free societies,” Wenski says.

Even so, Wenski can tick off signs of progress, including:

— A newly completed seminary campus is the first major construction project by the church since the revolution.

— Renovations are now underway in several churches.

— Cuba’s first program offering a master’s in business administration is offered at a new Catholic cultural center in Havana.

— St. Thomas University, owned by the Archdiocese of Miami, gives training programs to public school teachers in Cuba.

National Catholic Reporter Vatican expert John Allen says the Castro brothers “want international legitimacy. Wrapping the pope in a warm, loving embrace, showing they’re not enemies of the faith, is a good way to get it,” Allen says.