HAVANA (Reuters) - Cardinal Jaime Ortega said Cuba`s decision to restore Christmas as a holiday had corrected a past mistake, but it could take Cubans years to re-discover the true spiritual meaning of the day. Ortega, Archbishop of Havana and head of the island`s Roman Catholic Church, told a news conference he had asked the communist authorities for permission to explain the meaning of Christmas in a message through the state media. But, with only a few days left, he had still not received any authorisation. "Many years have passed without the celebration of Christmas," Ortega said. "It is the task of the Church ... to make possible once again the experiencing of Christmas, so a happy Christmas can be felt again." Cuba announced this month it was restoring Christmas Day as a public holiday, some three decades after it was abolished as a distraction to the strategic sugar harvest. Ortega said he welcomed the restoration as a "rectification of errors" made in the past. But he said the Cuban people should be able to rediscover the true meaning of Christmas - its significance as the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, as well as a day of family intimacy, charity, peace and love. "This has got to truly sink in," he said. "That`s a job that could take years, I think." Cuba`s Catholic Church was due to start its Christmas celebrations with a public concert in Havana`s Cathedral Square by a Cuban choir that would include carols. Ortega said the formal restoration of the Christmas holiday was one of the positive signs of an improving relationship between the Church and Cuba`s communist authorities. The official newspaper Granma reported on Tuesday Cuban President Fidel Castro had attended a Jewish festival in Havana at the request of the island`s Jewish community. Granma said this was a sign of the "excellent relations" between the state and all religious denominations.