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.c The Associated Press
When Fidel
Castro met with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in November 1996 and invited
him to Cuba, the communist leader called their agreement a "miracle.''
Now it will be Castro's turn to host the pope. The two men are scheduled to
hold talks Thursday in Havana, the second day of John Paul's five-day visit to
Cuba.
Neither the Vatican nor the Cuban government have named other people the
pope will meet during his five-day trip. But two churchmen are certainly on the
list.
Cardinal Jaime Ortega, detained for a year in a labor camp in the 1960s, was
elevated to cardinal by John Paul in 1994, a sign the pope was already keen on
raising the profile of Cuba's Roman Catholic Church.
The government granted the 61-year-old cardinal television time to address
the nation a week before the pope's scheduled arrival, the first time a cardinal
spoke to the country on TV since shortly after the 1959 revolution.
Archbishop Beniamino Stella has served as the papal nuncio, or ambassador,
in Havana since 1992. An Italian, he has been a key figure in promoting Vatican
policy and organizing the pope's visit.
AP-NY-01-17-98 1404EST |