Pope Benedict met with Cuban revolutionary icon Fidel Castro after saying mass in Havana on Wednesday, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said.
The meeting comes towards the close of the pope's three-day visit to the Communist-run island which was the first time since Pope John Paul II’s historic 1998 trip to Cuba.
Cuba's single-party, Communist government never outlawed religion, but it expelled priests and closed religious schools upon Fidel Castro's takeover of Cuba in 1959.
Related links:
- Pope Benedict meets Fidel Castro after urging Cubans to seek 'authentic freedom'
- Vatican: Pope's Cuba trip should help democracy
- PhotoBlog: Pope Benedict celebrates mass with 300,000 Cubans
