It is a copy made in bronze of the image that had been exposed in a chapel located on the shores of the Cuban Bay of Nipe, place where, according to a legend, she was sighted by three children more than four centuries ago.

The Virgin of Charity of El Cobre is closely linked to Cuban history and its struggle for independence.

This image accompanied the troops of the independentist army in its battles against Spanish colonialism and were precisely the veterans of that war who wrote to the then Supreme Pontiff Benedict XV to ask his proclamation as Catholic patroness of Cuba.

During today's ceremony the Cardinal Bertone recalled the visits to Cuba made by the Popes Juan Pablo II, in 1998, and Benedicto XVI, 2012.

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