HAVANA (AP) -- With the spirit of Pope John Paul II's visit still lingering in
                   Cuba, Roman Catholic Cardinal Jaime Ortega led hundreds of worshippers
                   on a brief Palm Sunday procession through streets near Havana's cathedral.

                   Children on bicycles sped by as Ortega, in robes of gilt and red, led about 350
                   people out the door of the San Carlos Seminary to the words of a hymn, "Bring
                   us your kingdom, Lord."

                   Incense drifted up the stone faces of Old Havana's buildings to a bright if cloud-
                   spattered sky as the procession walked about two short blocks past puddles left
                   by a Saturday downpour. The marchers turned and entered the cobblestone
                   cathedral plaza before going into the church itself.

                   "We have to work. If not, we'd be there," said Gloria Estel, one of four women
                   who paused in sweeping a parking lot as the procession slowly moved past. Only
                   a handful of police were in view, though the tourist zone is usually heavily
                   patrolled.

                   For more than 30 years, outdoor religious celebrations were essentially banned in
                   communist Cuba and for much of that time, even expressing religious belief
                   could cause loss of a job in what was an officially atheist state.

                   But the government dropped its constitutional references to atheism in 1992. A
                   gradual thaw in church-state relations led to the January 1998 papal visit and
                   government acceptance of at least some outdoor religious events.

                   Sunday's was the third consecutive Palm Sunday procession at the cathedral -- a
                   sign of the lingering influence of the pope's visit, which is still recalled by
                   sun-bleached posters tacked to houses around the Cuban capital.

                   In his homily, Ortega indirectly distanced the church both from the government
                   and from challenges to it.

                   He reminding worshippers that Jesus had not come to bring "a material kingdom"
                   but one of the spirit.

                   He asked them to leave the palm branches even as they dry in their homes to
                   show "that we are followers not of king of this world, nor of a hero of a
                   moment or an epoch, of a way of thinking or any school of philosophy. We are
                   the followers of Christ of the cross."

                   Among the worshippers was Martin Barriales, who said that until the last few
                   years, "if one was religious, one could not work ... you could not even wear a
                   crucifix."

                   He said things had changed, "especially since the visit of Pope John Paul II."

                   Copyright 2000 The Associated Press.