Raul Castro Visits the Vatican

Just a few months after Pope Francis made a personal appeal to soften relations between the U.S. and Cuba, Cuban President Raul Castro was welcomed to the Vatican on Sunday. The pair had a “strictly private” meeting. The Vatican announced last month that Pope Francis will visit Cuba before the U.S. in September. Upon meeting with Pope Francis, Castro declared, "I read all the speeches of the pope, his commentaries, and if the pope continues this way, I will go back to praying and go back to the church, and I'm not joking."