Good Friday his advisers, decreed that Good Friday that year would be a holiday. This was Castro's response to a request made personally to him by Pope Benedict XVI during the latter's Apostolic Visitation to the island and León, Mexico that month. The move followed the pattern of small advances in Cuba's relations with the Vatican, mirroring Pope John Paul II's success in getting Fidel Castro to declare Christmas Day a holiday. Both Good Friday and Christmas are now annual holidays in Cuba. In Hong Kong, despite the transfer of sovereignty from the UK to China in 1997, Good Friday continues to
Good Friday Prayer Good Friday Prayer Good Friday Prayer can refer to any of the prayers prayed by Christians on Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, or to all such prayers collectively. Eastern Orthodox Christians and many Byzantine-rite Catholics, who use the same liturgy, spend this day fasting from all food, to the extent that their health permits. Neither the Divine Liturgy nor the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts may be celebrated, thereby fasting from the Eucharist as well (with the exception of communion for the dying). Instead, they come together three times during the day for communal worship: The prayers include commemoration