THE CUBAN President, Fidel Castro, is to meet Archbishop Jaime Ortega of Havana to discuss the possibility of a visit to Cuba by the Pope, according to Italian press reports this week.
The news came after United States Bishop James Malone, who recently visited Cuba, announced that Castro had promised to discuss the anti Catholic bias in the country with the Cuban bishops.
The Pope has often expressed a wish to visit Cuba, most recently during a trip last year to the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean. According to Vatican officials, however, the political climate in Cuba has made such a visit inappropriate until now.