Pope Benedict XVI ended his visit to Cuba on Wednesday celebrating an open-air Mass with hundreds of thousands of faithful in the shrine of the Cuban revolution.

Huge crowds turned out for the pope at Revolution Plaza for the morning service, including President Raul Castro and high-ranking cabinet officials. Benedict later met with President Castro and his brother, revolutionary leader Fidel later in the day.

The huge display of public support for the pope was a sign of a potential revival of the Catholic faith in the communist-ruled country, where the church faces some degree of state oppression.

Despite the pope's prayer on Tuesday for "renewal and hope, for the greater good of Cubans," the Cuban leadership was quick to assert the country would not be liberalizing its political system.

"In Cuba, there will be no political reforms," said Marino Murillo, Cuba's economic czar and a vice president. "In Cuba, what we are talking about is an updating of our Cuban economic model, which makes our own form of socialism more sustainable, for the well-being of our people."

The pope has used his prayers and speeches during his stay on the island to bring up issues sensitive to the Cuban leadership.

His visit was timed to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the discovery of a wooden statue of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre in the waters of eastern Cuba.

He offered a prayer to the statue on Tuesday.

"I have entrusted to the mother of God the future of your country, advancing along the ways of renewal and hope, for the greater good of all Cubans," the pope said. "I have also prayed to the Virgin for the needs of those who suffer, of those who are deprived of freedom, those who are separated from their loved ones or who are undergoing times of difficulty."

Benedict had urged thousands of Cubans at an open-air mass in the eastern city of Santiago on Monday to build a "renewed and open society." Days ahead of his visit to the largely secular country, the pope dismissed Marxist ideology, on which the Cuban system is based, saying it "no longer corresponds to reality."

The pope met with Cuban President Raul Castro in Havana on Tuesday. The men were expected to discuss the future of relations between the church and state; no information on the content was released after the talks.

acb, ncy/rc (AP, AFP)