For the businessman who has changed his politics, the Miami priest who tends to an exile flock, the retired college math professor who has searched her conscience for guidance and the lawyer who has long advocated reconciliation, the pilgrimage to Cuba next month represents more than an opportunity to see Pope Benedict XVI celebrate Mass.

The trip signals hope. Hope that the island will open itself up to freedom. Hope that Miami’s Cuban-American community has matured enough to consider other approaches. Hope that the pilgrims’ presence, and that of their religious leader, will show the world that change is possible.

The pope’s three-day-trip, which will commemorate the 400th anniversary of the appearance of Our Lady of Charity, Cuba’s patron saint, is bringing together faithful from all walks of life who share one belief: Benedict’s visit to the communist island, the second by a pontiff in 14 years, marks one more step in the long journey of bringing the Cuban people together.

“This,” says Cuban-born Rev. Fernando Heria, pastor of St. Brendan’s Catholic Church, “is an opportunity to break myths on both sides. This is a pilgrimage of love.”

Many agree. “Our presence is the best testimonial,” says Margarita Cuervo, a parishioner at Epiphany Catholic Church and a professor emeritus at Miami Dade College. “I’m going to express my solidarity and share my faith and hope with the long-suffering people in Cuba.”

And from Miami attorney John de Leon, who calls his first trip to his parents’ homeland in 1992 life changing: “The pope is sending an incredibly important message to the world, and it’s a message that the Vatican is willing to keep engaging Cuba, that the world needs to open to Cuba and Cuba to the world.”

The Archdiocese of Miami is sponsoring the trip to Cuba during the pope’s visit, March 26-28, led by Archbishop Thomas Wenski. Hundreds have applied for the trip. Most pilgrims are from Miami, but faithful are coming from all over the country, including New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Tampa and St. Augustine. It’s not yet clear how many other pilgrims, both Cuban and non-Cuban, will visit the communist island on flights through independent charters.

One thing appears certain, though. The opposition that bedeviled Pope John Paul II’s historic visit to Cuba in January 1998 is not as large or as vocal. Back then, the Archdiocese was forced to cancel a cruise ship charter that was scheduled to take thousands of the faithful to the island. Now, 14 years later, “we as a community have matured,” says Andy Gomez, a senior fellow for the Institute for Cuban and Cuban American studies at the University of Miami. “I think we’re more realistic.”

Much has changed, too, on the other side of the Florida Straits. Fidel Castro is no longer in power, having ceded the reins to his more pragmatic brother Raul. And the Catholic church has become a social force in the island’s society, brokering the release of political prisoners and lobbying to halt the harassment of some dissidents. “Democracy is not going to happen overnight,” says Gomez, who will be in Cuba for the pope’s visit. “But the church also realizes it can play an important role in the changes that are going to come.”