Related videos:
Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Cuba's Foreign Minister, publicly thanked His Holiness León XIV after being received in an audience at the Vatican as Special Envoy of the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel.
"I am deeply grateful to His Holiness Leo XIV for the honor of having received me in Audience," Rodríguez wrote this Saturday on his official account on X where he shared two photos with the pontiff.
Coincidences in the Vatican amid tensions
The visit takes place a few days after Mike Hammer, head of the United States diplomatic mission in Cuba, met in Rome with Monseñor Silvano Herminio Pedroso Montalvo, bishop of Guantánamo-Baracoa, following an audience with Pope Leo XIV.
Both agendas appear to have coincidentally intersected, but they sparked speculations about alleged conversations between Washington and La Habana in the Vatican.
Hammer was on an official visit to Italy last week, when the Cuban bishop held a ad limina meeting with the pontiff, despite the fact that the rest of the Cuban episcopate canceled the trip due to the energy crisis affecting the Island.
The Pope's call for dialogue
On February 1st, León XIV expressed his “great concern” about the rising tensions between Cuba and the United States. After the Angelus prayer, he urged for the promotion of a “sincere and effective” dialogue to prevent violence and alleviate the suffering of the Cuban people.
The message, which was also shared by the Vatican on X, included an invocation to the Virgin of Charity of Copper. The announcement comes amid intensified sanctions against the regime and during a deep economic crisis in Cuba, characterized by power outages, inflation, and increasing migration.
Filed under: