Raul Castro announced that he is considering returning to the Catholic Church after his meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican this weekend.
Cuban president Raul Castro might return to the Catholic church. Castro gave his stunning statement on Sunday, when he was visiting pope Francis at the Vatican in Rome. Castro said that he was so impressed by Francis’ contribution and work in improving relations between Cuba and the United States he considers rejoining his childhood church stressing that he’s not joking.
The Cuban government has implemented a hard line on religion ever since Fidel Castro took over reins on the island nation, with Catholics and others even persecuted over the years and religious activities frowned upon. Only in recent years has the Cuban stance on religion softened. In January it was announced that the first Catholic church under the Castro regime would be built in Cuba. According to Raul Castro, believers are now allowed to be a part of the communist society.
The Vatican has, together with Canada, facilitated many of the diplomatic talks between Cuba and the United States in the last two years. Francis himself has urged president Barack Obama both in writing and in person to have better relations with Cuba, and to ease Cuban aid and trade sanctions.
The pope will visit Cuba in September in connection with his visit to the United States. Last Sunday at the Vatican, Raul Castro publicly promised to go to all Pope Francis’ masses in Cuba. Francis will be the third pope to visit the island nation after the historic 1998 visit of St John Paul II and 2012 trip of Benedict XVI.
An underlying factor in the warm relationship between Francis and the Cuban president might be that they both come from Latin America. Raul Castro added that Pope Francis’ Jesuit background was another familiar base the two leaders share. The Pope “is a Jesuit, and I, in some way, am too,” said Castro. “I always studied at Jesuit schools.”