Pope Francis Requests Meeting With Cuba's Fidel Castro
Pope Francis is reportedly seeking a meeting with Cuba's ex-president Fidel Castro during his upcoming trip to the communist country.
Sources have confirmed that the meeting will take place if Castro's health allows. The details of the meeting will also reportedly be planned last minute, as some consider the gathering to be controversial.
A Vatican official told The Guardian that "at the moment, it is not on the agenda," suggesting that any meeting will be organized last-minute.
Papal biographer Austen Ivereigh told Bloomberg that he expects the ex-president of Cuba to participate in the talk if his health allows.
"If Castro is up to it, I fully expect them to meet for a private talk," the biographer told the media outlet, adding that Francis "sympathized with the original aims of the Cuban revolution and was very supportive of the desire for economic sovereignty, for social justice. He was deeply disappointed when it went communist."
According to the Havana Times, while the meeting is not on the pope's official schedule, there is a gap of time after when the pope lands at the "Jose Marti" International Airport of Havana on September 19.
The pontiff is also scheduled to pay a visit to President Raul Castro at the Palace of the Revolution on September 20.
Pope Francis played a major role in brokering the relationship betwen the United States and Cuba last year, writing letters to both of the countries' leaders encouraging them to put aside old Cold War grudges and reunite their diplomacy.
