Pope Benedict XVI yesterday was heading to Cuba, where the Catholic Church has minority status but maintains a special dialogue with the communist regime, in the absence of legal opposition.

Pope Benedict XVI, who made his first visit to Mexico at the weekend, set the tone for the Cuba trip by insisting Marxism “as it was designed, no longer corresponds to reality,” and it would be useful to “find new models” of governing.

He said on Friday that Catholics were ready “to help in a constructive dialogue necessary to avoid trauma” in multi-denominational Cuba.

But the Pontiff said it was “obvious that the church is always on the side of freedom of conscience, freedom of religion” and that in Cuba, “ordinary Catholics contribute to finding the path forward.”

However, nobody expects a clash between the Pontiff and the Cuban government, even as it continued a crackdown on opponents.

In fact Cuban authorities have rounded up at least 150 dissidents in the past days to thwart any demonstrations during a landmark visit by Pope Benedict XVI, the head of an opposition group said yesterday.

“So far the Cuban Human Rights and National Reconciliation Commission can confirm that in the past four days at least 150 peaceful dissidents have been arrested,” said Elizardo Sanchez, head of the outlawed, but tolerated group.

At least 15 of those detained were members of the Ladies in White, a prominent group of wives and family members of jailed political opponents, according to the dissidents.

The Cuban Human Rights and National Reconciliation Commission said the arrests took place in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba.

Pope Benedict XVI underscored his commitment to “absolute continuity” of the course laid out by the historic journey of Pope John Paul II on the island in January 1998. “The Holy See knows the ideological positions of the Cuban government” and the government “is aware of the views of the Church,” said Archbishop Dionisio Garcia of Santiago de Cuba.

Pope Benedict XVI has no plans to meet with the opposition. The Pope “knows the Cuban reality” and the fact “he meets with the opponents or not does not mean he is unaware” of their situation, Archbishop Garcia said.

However, the Vatican said the Pope would be “available” for a possible meeting with the father of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, who left power due to ill health in 2006.

Cuba’s Roman Catholics account for about 10 per cent of the population of 11 million, after 40 years of official atheism ended in the 1990s. Evangelical Protestants are making inroads as elsewhere, but most Cubans identify most with AfroCuban belief systems, such as Santeria and Palo Monte.

Workers, racing against the clock, have pieced together a huge altar where Pope Benedict will say Mass later this week in sprawling Revolution Square. It has been the venue for countless mass rallies over almost five decades by the Communist government. The altar was placed at the foot of the towering Jose Marti monument, which honours Cuba’s most important independence-era hero.

And the Pope, after meeting with President Raul Castro, will look straight out at images of revolutionary icons Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos plastered on government ministries.