Castro at Vatican thanks pope for mediating thaw with US

Yahoo – AFP, Jean-Louis De La Vaissiere, 10 May 2015

Cuban president Raul Castro (R) pictured with Pope Francis after their

private audience at the Vatican on May 10, 2015 (AFP Photo/Vincenzo Pinto)

Vatican City (AFP) - Cuban President Raul Castro met with Pope Francis at the Vatican Sunday, thanking the pontiff for his role in brokering an historic rapprochement between Havana and Washington, a papal spokesman said.

"Raul Castro thanked the Pope for his mediation between Cuba and the United States," said Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi of the exchange that also focused on Francis' upcoming visit to Cuba.

Cuba's President Raul Castro (L)during a

 meeting with US President Barack Obama

 on the sidelines of the Summit of the

 Americas at the ATLAPA Convention 

center in Panama City on April 11, 

2015 (AFP Photo/Mandel Ngan)

The first South American pope played a key role in secret negotiations between the United States and Cuba, which led to the surprise announcement in December that the two countries would seek to restore diplomatic ties after more than 50 years of tensions.

During the meeting Castro offered the pontiff a painting by Cuban artist Kcho inspired by the plight of illegal immigrants stranded at sea -- a subject close to the pope's heart.

Francis in turn presented Castro a medal of Saint Martin de Tours, a French saint celebrated for having given his coat to a beggar, and urged others to "clothe and support the poor."

Castro, who was accompanied by his Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, held a private hour-long meeting with the pontiff in a small room adjoining the Paul VI Audience Hall, where large gatherings are held in the Vatican.

View galleryCuba's President Raul Castro (L)during a meeting …

Cuba's President Raul Castro (L)during a meeting with US President Barack Obama on the sidelines …

Their discussions, conducted in Spanish, were described by the Vatican as "very cordial".

Castro a Francis fan

Castro said he was "very struck" by the Catholic leader's "modesty and wisdom" and promised to attend all the masses given by Francis on his Cuba visit in September.

Picture released by the Vatican Press

Office shows Pope Benedict XVI with 

Cuban leader Fidel Castro (R) during a

 meeting in Havana on March 28, 

2012 (AFP Photo)

"I read all the Holy Father's speeches," Castro said, adding that if the pope "continues to speak in this way, one day I will start praying again and return to the Catholic Church. And I'm not saying that as a joke."

Pope Francis arrived ten minutes ahead of Castro.

A dozen uniformed Swiss Guards stood to attention in front of the building when the limousine bearing the Cuban flag arrived.

The Holy See has revealed the Argentine pope personally mediated between the US and Cuba, and that the Vatican hosted delegations from the two countries in October.

The Vatican announced last month that Pope Francis would visit the Caribbean island in September, becoming only the third pontiff to do so after John Paul II in 1998 and Benedict XVI in 2012.

Jorge Bergoglio, then auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires and now Pope Francis, accompanied John Paul II on the first papal visit to Cuba, during which John Paul II called for Havana to be brought in from the cold.

"Let Cuba open itself to the world, and let the world open itself to Cuba," he urged, two years after hosting Castro's ailing older brother Fidel for talks at the Vatican.

From Cuba, Francis will continue on to the US for a meeting with President Barack Obama.

Cuban president Fidel Castro (R) listens to

 pope John Paul II on the tarmac of the 

Jose Marti International Airport in Havana 

January 21, 1998 (AFP Photo/Michel

Gangne)

Castro's Vatican visit, announced only Tuesday, followed a visit to Russia, where the Cuban leader attended a grandiose World War II victory parade on Saturday.

He was to meet Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Rome later on Sunday.

The Catholic Church has consistently backed calls for the lifting of the US trade embargo against Cuba, while staunchly supporting Cuban Catholics and pressuring Havana to release political prisoners, many of whom are Catholic activists.

The Vatican has also kept its distance from Cuban exiles based in Miami, Florida, who have long clamoured for Havana's Marxist regime to be ousted.

When the now retired Benedict XVI visited Cuba in 2012, he had lengthy, warm talks with Fidel Castro, who is now 88.

The Vatican's mediation between Cuba and the US administration was a diplomatic success for the Holy See and had a considerable impact in mainly Catholic Latin America.

Other diplomatic efforts have been less successful, including a bid to help resolve the political crisis in Venezuela and a longstanding drive to encourage reconciliation between the Colombian government and guerrilla movements in that country.

Related Article:

"Not Your Father's New Age" - Feb 14/15, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

".. Everything that has transpired during these years has been realized potential. That is to say that we see the potentials of what you might do, and report on that and only that. Much of what we see now is realized quickly. When we told you in 2012 there would be a new pope, 13 months later it happened. This was not prophecy, but rather a potential. We saw it coming because we have the overview and we knew of the anxiety of the existing pope, the health of the man, and we also knew of the potentials of a South American pope to come forward. All of these things should be a "connect the dots" for you. I come yet again, not with prophecy, but with information given with a congratulatory attitude of potential. ..."