THISDAY

Pope Francis Inspires Cuba’s Raul Castro towards Church

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Cuban President Raul Castro has said he was so impressed by a Vatican audience with Pope Francis that he might return to the faith he was born into.

Mr. Castro praised the pontiff’s wisdom, adding: “I will resume praying and turn to the Church again if the Pope continues in this vein.”

He thanked the Pope for brokering a rapprochem­ent between Cuba and the US.

The communist leader had stopped at the Vatican after attending Russia’s World War Two Victory Day in Moscow.

The Catholic Church has maintained ties with Havana since the 1959 revolution.

The Pope will visit Cuba on his way to the US in September.

For Pope Francis, the restoratio­n of relations between the US and Cuba - agreed during secret talks at the Vatican - has been a major diplomatic achievemen­t, says the BBC’s David Willey in Rome.

The US had imposed a trade embargo after Cuba’s revolution, which it began to lift late last year.

After the 50-minute private audience yesterday, Mr. Castro told reporters: “The pontiff is a Jesuit, and I, in some way, am too. I studied at Jesuit schools.”

After suggesting he might turn again to the Church, he added: “I mean what I say.”

Both Mr Castro and his brother, revolution­ary leader Fidel Castro, were baptised as Roman Catholics, but most Church activities were suppressed after the revolution.

Francis will be the third Pope to travel to Cuba, following visits there by John Paul II in 1998

 ??  ?? A law enforcemen­t officer using pepper spray to disperse the crowd at the intersecti­on of North and Pennsylvan­ia Avenues in Baltimore…recently
A law enforcemen­t officer using pepper spray to disperse the crowd at the intersecti­on of North and Pennsylvan­ia Avenues in Baltimore…recently

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