~ I really like Pope Francis, and I am not even Catholic! ~ -- ROME — Pope Francis had quite a 78th birthday. The pontiff began Wednesday with prayers and a birthday celebration with tango dancers near St. Peter’s Square. His day ended with a historic diplomatic breakthrough between Cuba and the United States — and the disclosure that the Argentine pope played a key role as broker. Francis is being credited for helping bridge the divide by first sending letters to President Obama and President Raúl Castro of Cuba, and then having the Vatican host a diplomatic meeting between the two sides in October. “The Holy Father wishes to express his warm congratulations for the historic decision,” Francis said in a statement issued Wednesday night by the Vatican. A Cuban flag flying near the American Interests Section in Havana, which served as a quasi-embassy.News Analysis: In U.S.-Cuba Embrace, Rusty Gears of Cold War Diplomacy Finally MoveDEC. 17, 2014 U.S. to Restore Full Relations With Cuba, Erasing a Last Trace of Cold War HostilityDEC. 17, 2014 The American Prisoner Alan Gross and Cuban-American RelationsDEC. 17, 2014 News Analysis: For Obama, More Audacity and Fulfillment of Languishing PromisesDEC. 17, 2014 Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, center, with aides Wednesday.Change in Policy, Like Shift in Demographics, Could Alter Florida’s Political Map DEC. 17, 2014 Pope Francis made an unscheduled stop on Sunday at Israel’s contentious concrete barrier separating Bethlehem from Jerusalem.Pope, in Mideast, Invites Leaders to Meet on PeaceMAY 25, 2014 Vatican spokesmen declined to provide any details about Francis’s letters, other than that he encouraged the two sides to resolve “humanitarian questions”; resolve the release of political prisoners, including an American held by Cuba, Alan P. Gross; and “initiate a new phase in relations.”
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 05:43:03 +0000
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