Raul Castro Meets Vatican FM Mamberti

HAVANA TIMES, June 21 — President Raul Castro met on Sunday afternoon with Vatican Foreign Minister Dominique Mamberti on the final day of his official visit to Cuba.  The local press said relations between the Vatican and Cuba —established 75 years ago— is respectful and improving.  No other information was forthcoming about the meeting.

Also on Sunday at the Nuestra Senora de Belen Convent, today the headquarters of the Havana City Historian’s office, Monsignor Mamberti said:  “I’m very happy to be here on my last day in Cuba, and be able to bring you the greetings of Pope Benedicto XVI.  This is a time to thank everyone for the show of cordiality and affection I’ve received in each place visited.”

“I will always hold in my heart and prayers the memory of this encounter,” he said at the convent.  Mamberti concluded his five-day visit to Cuba at the Jose Marti International Airport on Sunday night where he was bid farewell from Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez.