In his first two days in Havana, the pope met Cuba’s Fidel and Raul Castro.
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Father Federico Lombardi, the spokesman for the Vatican said that the historical meeting between the head of the Catholic church and Castro with his family has been “very relaxed, fraternal and friendly”.
Dr Castro gave the pontiff a copy of Fidel And Religion, a 1985 book of interviews with a Brazilian priest which lifted a taboo on speaking about religion in Cuba, then officially atheist. The pope received a tropically warm welcome on arrival in the Cuban capital Saturday afternoon, when tens of thousands of people braved the heat and humidity to greet him with dancing, cheers and banners along the route from the airport to the Vatican nunciature.
On Monday, more than a dozen local Catholics began their journey from Minneapolis to Washington D.C., all in the hopes of seeing Pope Francis during his first historic trip to the United States.
One of two unidentified men is grabbed by a security officer after they threw leaflets as Pope Francis arrives for Mass at Revolution Plaza in Havana, Cuba, Sunday, September 20, 2015.
Right now, Pope Francis is traveling across Cuba.
On arriving Saturday Pope Francis asked Raul to convey his “sentiments of particular respect and consideration” to Fidel.
After mass, Francis had the meeting many were anticipating.
Cuban President Raul Castro and Argentina’s Cristina Kirchner were expected to be among those in attendance. This was the seventh time the Argentine president meets with Francis and apparently there will be an eighth opportunity probably in the USA or at the United Nations since both leaders are scheduled to address the General Assembly. Francis presided over a vespers service in Havana’s 18th century Immaculate Conception and San Cristobal cathedral on Sunday.
Tomorrow he will celebrate mass and deliver a speech before heading for the US , where, Sylvia says, no one really knows what to expect from the pope.
Francis also appeared to appeal to Cubans to look after each other as the country faces social changes and new economic opportunities.
During the Mass earlier Sunday, the pope told the crowd of many thousands in Havana to “serve people, not ideas”.
That took place on the feast of St. Matthew and the pope dedicated his Holguin homily to the Bible story of the conversion of the former tax collector who decided to follow Jesus Christ. They were evicted by police a few days later with the church’s blessing after Roman Catholic authorities secured a promise from the government that none would be prosecuted.
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The latest developments in Pope Francis’ visit to Cuba and the United States.
