Cuba’s Raul Castro to address United Nations global gathering this month
Donilon added O’Malley is there to serve Pope Francis.
The pope’s theme for his Cuba visit, “Missionary of Mercy”, was chosen to emphasize the need for reconciliation between Cubans in Cuba and in the United States after decades of hatred and mistrust, Wenski said in an interview.
In that trip, he improvised in Spanish while an aide translated into English.
Following the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States, both sides defined an agenda towards the normalization of bilateral relations, but the Cuban government has made it clear that it is not possible to talk about normal relations while the embargo is in force.
Responding to rumors and questions that have arisen surrounding the trip.
There, he may meet former president Fidel Castro on Sunday, if the revolutionary leader is well enough. “He did not leave the airport”, the spokesman said. Pope Francis will be in Havana, Cuba’s capital, from the evening of September 19 until early morning September 21.
There is also the fact that Raúl Castro was so impressed with the Argentinian pontiff when he visited the Vatican in May that he said that he was seriously considering a return to Catholicism.
“There is a long process” for naming bishops, Father Lombardi said.
Castro himself will make his first speech at the United Nations since becoming president.
The pope “has shown a left-wing tendency and a disdain for capitalism”, said Ninoska Perez, a Cuban exile radio host, who urged Francis to speak out on Cuba’s “appalling” human rights record.
The Pope will endeavour to push the pace of reform in Cuba, but the approach is likely to be a soft one. However, the spokesman said, there is “great consensus” about Blessed Serra’s importance as a missionary and in the history of California.
This time, Father Lombardi said, the pope invited Valentina Ambrosi, an artist from the Vatican mosaic studio.
Titled “The necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba”, it denounces “the damage caused by this hostile policy for over five decades, which has cost the country billions, and has hampered the comprehensive development of Cuba’s children and youth”, according to state daily Granma. From Washington to New York, then to Philadelphia and back to Rome, American Airlines will provide the plane for the pope, his entourage and about 75 media people from around the world.