Pope Francis to receive Cuban president Raul Castro at the Vatican

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Cuban President Raul Castro will visit Pope Francis at the Vatican this weekend and is expected to thank the pontiff for catalysing the recent improvement in relations between Cuba and the US, among other discussions.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said Pope Francis would receive Mr Castro at the Apostolic Palace for a “strictly private audience,” the Associated Press reported.

President Castro’s visit to the Vatican comes just four months before the pope is scheduled to stop in Cuba when he comes west in September. The Vatican announced the Cuba trip last month.

The pope already is scheduled to visit the US in September and the Rev. Lombardi, said he will stop in Cuba before he visits the US.

The two previous popes – Benedict XVI and Saint John Paul II – both visited Cuba. Pope Benedict made the trip in 2012 and Pope John Paul visited in 1998.

“The presence of His Holiness in Cuba will be memorable,” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said, according to the BBC. “He will receive the warmest hospitality of the Cuban people.”

Pope Francis will make his first visit to the White House on 23 September, where he will meet with President Barack Obama.

Prior to the White House invite, Francis will speak before the annual UN General Assembly on 25 September and address a joint session of Congress on 24 September. It will be the first time the pope has ever addressed congress, Fox News reported.

During his visit, Pope Francis will also visit New York City and Philadelphia, and has left open the possibility of a visit to Boston.

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