Cardinal Bertone Meets with Castro

(27 Feb 08 - RV) Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone met with Cuban President Raul Castro on Tuesday.

It was Raul Castro's first meeting with a foreign visitor two days after succeeding his ailing brother Fidel Castro as the new leader of the communist-run country. Raul Castro received the cardinal in the government headquarters overlooking Havana's Revolution Square.

At Havana airport before his departure, Cardinal Bertone said he had raised the Catholic Church's concern about prisoners in Cuba during the meeting; "With the greatest respect for the sovereignty of the country and its citizens, I expressed to President Raul Castro the concern of the Church over the prisoners and their families,".

Earlier, the cardinal told the news agency of the Italian Bishops Conference, SIR, that in discussions with Cuban officials he had not asked “directly” for the release of political prisoners.

“It would look like interference,” he was quoted as saying. “The Church does not impose, but proposes.”

Cardinal Bertone said he hoped his six-day visit had given a new push to once strained ties between the Cuban state and the Catholic Church 10 years after Pope John Paul's historic trip to the island. But he said the relations would always be "challenging."

He also told the agency that the island's leaders had assured him they would allow some Roman Catholic broadcasts on state-controlled media. “Authorities have promised me more openness in the print press and the radio _ and in some exceptional cases, in television as well," he said. "We do hope for some openness, because nothing is impossible.”

Since arriving in Cuba, Cardinal Bertone has presided over large Mass services in Havana and Santiago, as well as in Guantanamo, which borders the U.S. naval base. He also held Mass in Santa Clara, where he unveiled a statue of John Paul II.