Pope meets with Fidel Castro in Cuba

Pope Francis met privately with former Cuban president Fidel Castro on Sunday, a meeting the Vatican described as "friendly and informal."

The meeting at Castro's Havana residence lasted about 30 minutes, said Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi, with the Pope and the communist leader exchanging books about religion. About 10 members of Castro's family were present, according to the Vatican.

Castro, who is 89, rarely makes public appearances. He and Francis talked about the common problems of humanity, including environmental degradation, Lombardi said.

Castro's son, Alex, photographed the meeting.

Pope Francis and Fidel Castro shake hands on Sunday afternoon.

Earlier on Sunday, the pope celebrated Mass before a crowd of thousands of Cubans, telling the communist country to "serve people, not ideas."

"There is a kind of service which truly serves," the Pope preached during his homily, "yet we need to be careful not to be tempted by another kind of service, a service which is self-serving."

"There is a way to go about serving which is interested in only helping 'my people,'" Francis continued, in remarks that some analysts interpreted as a criticism of Cuba's communist government. "This service always leaves 'your people' outside, and gives rise to a process of exclusion."

Long before dawn, crowds in the communist country began pouring in to see the Pope, who took to the stage across from Christ's likeness Sunday morning. Before celebrating Mass, he passed through the crowd in the popemobile greeting worshippers.

Three hours ahead of his arrival, the square was already packed with many thousands of people. The Cuban government was expecting 100,000 or more people to attend. The Red Cross set up stations to take care of medical needs that might arise from exhaustion.

Crowds cheered and waved flags as the Pope neared. Cardinal Sean O'Malley, archbishop of Boston, and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop emeritus of Washington, were seated near Pope Francis, along with Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana. Turkson was a key adviser on the Pope's encyclical on the environment. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Cuban President Raul Castro also attended the Mass.

Programming Note

Don't miss live coverage of Pope Francis' trips to Cuba and the U.S. on CNN and CNNgo, and see the people and places that shaped Pope Francis in a CNN special report, "The People's Pope," Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET.

Cubans waiting for the Pope in Havana's Revolution Square could not remember ever having seen a picture of Jesus Christ there. And this one had towering stature, with words under the picture reading, "Come to me."

The government has given the crowd a rare treat, opening up Wi-Fi signals. It has encouraged Cubans to send messages of welcome to the Pope.

 

The Pope gets political

 

Later Sunday, Francis is to meet with government officials and follow that with meetings with local priests and seminarians.

When Francis landed in Cuba on Saturday, he quickly called on the communist nation to "open itself to the world," while praising its recent restoration of diplomatic ties with the United States.

Francis was greeted by Castro at Jose Marti International airport in Havana, where the Pope urged Cuba to grant its people the "freedom, the means and the space" to practice their faith -- an implicit criticism of the many restrictions the country places on religion.

The Catholic Church was once an integral part of Cuban history, the Pope said, inspiring veterans of its war for independence and "sustaining the hope which preserves people's dignity in the most difficult situations."

In his short speech, Francis also invoked Jose Marti, a Cuban hero, to deliver a veiled critique of the Castros, said Andrew Chesnut, a professor of Latin American history at Virginia Commonwealth University. Marti, a George Washington-type figure, died in 1895 during the war for independence.

News Courtesy: www.cnn.com