Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel will pay a courtesy visit to the Pope Francisco in the Vatican on June 20, according to Vatican sources today. Details have yet to be confirmed from the island.
The information indicates that it is a courtesy visit and that, “by the will of both parties, it will be a simple meeting, without protocol, with the aim of reinforcing the friendship that has been established with a personal relationship, consolidated by the historic visit to the Vatican in times of Juan Pablo II of President Fidel Castro, in November 1996».
Pope Francis will receive the President of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, in the Vatican https://t.co/uFlJvqOPCK pic.twitter.com/WpK3G9WVTG
– Vatican News ?? (@news_vaticano) June 16, 2023
After the meeting with Francisco, Díaz-Canel will meet with the Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin. During the morning, he would be received at the Quirinale by Italian President Sergio Mattarella and then by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, according to this source.
This trip would also take the Cuban president to France, where he will participate in the world summit sponsored by President Emanuel Macron, to reach a “New International Financial Pact”, on June 22 and 23 in Paris.
Francis will also receive the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, on June 21.
The audiences for next week have already been confirmed, except for the General Audience next Wednesday in Saint Peter’s Square, canceled to ensure its full recovery.
pope’s health
Francis received a medical discharge this Friday and returned to the Vatican to continue his recovery, after having undergone surgery at the Gemelli hospital in Rome.
The Supreme Pontiff visited Cuba in 2015. In his welcome speech, then-President Raúl Castro thanked him for his support to the reestablishment of relations between the United States and the island.
Then, Francis opened his first statement on the island with formal greetings and conveying his sentiments “of special consideration and respect” to Fidel Castro, who came to meet with three Popes: John Paul II, in the Vatican (1996) and in La Havana (1998), in Havana with Benedict XVI and finally with Francisco.
The links between Cuba and the Holy See are around 90 years.
