Pope Francis has held talks with Cuba’s president, in his first full week back at the Vatican following abdominal surgery.
A brief statement from the Holy See about the pontiff’s private meeting with Miguel Diaz-Canel on Tuesday gave no details about what the two men discussed.
But it mentioned “the importance of the diplomatic relations between the Holy See, evoking among other things the historic visit of St John Paul II in 1998″, during a subsequent meeting with the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
The prelate and the Cuban leader also discussed the communist-led Caribbean nation’s “situation and the contribution that the Church offers, especially in the sphere of charity”, the statement said.
Cuba has been struggling through an economic crisis.
Francis visited Cuba in 2015, as part of the Vatican’s drive to encourage better international relations. That quest included John Paul II’s 1998 papal pilgrimage, the first-ever by a pontiff, to Cuba.
Cardinal Parolin and Mr Diaz-Canel also discussed “some international themes of reciprocal interest”, but the Vatican did not specify which ones.
“The importance of continuing the commitment to always favour the common good” was also stressed, the Holy See said.
Doctors have urged 86-year-old Francis to pace himself as he recovers from surgery on June 7 to repair a hernia and remove painful scarring from previous operations.
Heeding their advice, the Pope will not hold his traditional Wednesday morning audience with pilgrims and tourists in St Peter’s Square this week.
The weekly appointments in past summers have been suspended for the month of July, in deference to hot weather and to give the pontiff a bit of a break.
At the far end of a boulevard that leads to St Peter’s Square, a handful of protesters demonstrated against Francis receiving the Cuban leader. They held placards demanding human rights be respected in Cuba and for the release of political prisoners there.
Earlier this year, a papal envoy to Cuba pressed Cuban authorities to release Cubans who had been jailed and grant amnesty to those sentenced for participating in protests on the island in 2021.
St John Paul II used his pilgrimage to Cuba to encourage the nation to open itself more fully to the world and for other nations to reciprocate.
The Vatican in general expresses scepticism regarding economic sanctions, such as those applied by US administrations against Cuba.
