Pope Francis has arrived in the Cuban capital, Havana, on his first visit to the island. He is expected to spend four days in Cuba before flying to the United States.
On Thursday the Vatican said it hoped it would help bring to an end the 53-year-old US embargo and lead to more freedom and human rights on the island.
On Friday the US announced eased restrictions on business and travel with Communist Cuba, the latest move by President Barack Obama to improve foreign relations.
Nearly 1,000 Cuban and foreign journalists are expected to cover the visit. Francis’s trip will also take him to the US for the first time as Pope.
In 1998 Pope John Paul II became the first Pope to visit the island, saying: “May Cuba… open itself up to the world, and may the world open itself up to Cuba.” His successor Pope Benedict XVI also visited Cuba in 2012.
Pope Francis is the 266th and current Pope of the Catholic Church, a title he holds ex officio as Bishop of Rome, and Sovereign of the Vatican City.
He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969 and from 1973 to 1979 was Argentina’s provincial superior of the Society of Jesus. He was accused of handing two priests to the National Reorganization Process during the Dirty War, but the lawsuit was ultimately dismissed.
He became the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. He led the Argentine Church during the December 2001 riots in Argentina, and the administrations of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner considered him a political rival.
He chose Francis as his papal name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Francis is the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere and the first non-European pope since the Syrian Gregory III in 741.
He has been noted for his humility, his concern for the poor, and his commitment to interfaith dialogue. He is known for having a humble approach to the papacy, less formal than his predecessors, for instance choosing to reside in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse rather than the papal apartments of the Apostolic Palace used by his predecessors.
Pope Francis has played a key role in the talks toward restoring full diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba.
The pope was a behind the scenes broker of the agreement, taking the role following Obama’s request during his visit to the pope in March 2014. The success of the negotiations was credited to Francis because “as a religious leader with the confidence of both sides, he was able to convince the Obama and Castro administrations that the other side would live up to the deal.”
Castro has said that when the pope comes, “I promise to go to all his Masses and with satisfaction”.
