Havana, February 12  (RHC)-- New York ArchbishopTimothy Dolan is concluding his six-day visit to Cuba this Wednesday with a tour of the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM), a project created in 1999 located in the west of the Cuban capital.

Some 29,600 doctors from 100 countries have graduated from ELAM, including nearly 200 from the United States, mainly from deprived areas.

At the invitation of President Miguel Díaz-Canel and the Cuban Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal Dolan has been in the Caribbean island visiting places associated with church activity and other areas of interest.

The President met the Cardinal on Tuesday. 

"It is very clear to us, the visitors, that we are at home here," he said during his first mass in Havana.

Dolan officiated several masses, among them, in the Basilica Menor of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, the country's patron saint, located in Santiago de Cuba.

He also toured the University of Havana, where he paid tribute to the remains of Father Félix Varela, the precursor of the Cuban nationality.   At the University, its first vice-chancellor Dionisio Zaldívar told the visitor about the history of the institution, its links with the history and society of the island, as well as its study plans.

The Bishop of Brooklyn, Monsignor Octavio Cisneros, evoked Varela's dedication to the sick, the needy, and immigrants during his stay in New York.

Cardinal Dolan's entourage included Msgr. Kevin Sullivan, executive director of Catholic Charities for the Archdiocese of New York, and Auxiliary Bishop Octavio Cisneros of Brooklyn, N.Y.