Pope Francis Holds Services before a 400 year old Santo

The Pope held mass before a 400 year old Santo representing The Madonna while he was in Cuba.  I usually write about these during the holidays, but this photo bears sharing and repeating.

Santos are religious figures meant to be displayed in churches, some with elaborate, hand sewn garments.   Laura Starr writes of them extensively in "The Doll Book" (1908), available free on Kindle and Google books, but can be found on ebay, too.  Mary Hillier, Max von Boehn, and Janet Pagter Johl also write about them.  This example is one of the oldest, and I'm guessing if she is 400 years old, then she came with the Spaniards to Cuba during the conquest.

"Maria" and "The Museum of Mary Child" are books for kids and teens based on Santos, and Rumer Godden's "The Kitchen Madonna" is also about them.  In the Eastern Orthodox Church, we do not have religious statues as The Catholic church does.  We have 2 dimensional icons that take their places, with only a large figure of  Jesus on the Cross that is removed at Easter and replaced after 40 days.  For many years, The Greek Orthodox Church frowned upon dolls representing priests and Orthodox nuns, but that changed about 25 years ago, and I began to find examples of them, and of a Russian Orthodox nun as well.

Santos are related to Creche or Nativity figures, or the figures made for the Precipio or German Putz.