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Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, was the first foreign dignitary received by Cuban President Raul Castro, who took office Feb. 24. Castro, who had been acting as president since July 2006, replaced his brother, Fidel Castro, who announced the previous week that he was stepping down for health reasons. Bertone said he had wished Raul Castro "success ... in this mission of service to his country" and had reaffirmed the Vatican's commitment to "help bring the world closer to Cuba and share common ground on international issues." Bertone was on a six-day visit to the island nation to commemorate Pope John Paul II's historic visit to the country 10 years ago. The revolution Fidel Castro led in the late 1950s had ample support among Catholics. However, church-state relations were strained after 1961 when Castro nationalized church schools, dismantled church institutions and expelled 136 priests. Social action projects were prohibited. Church programs were monitored. Cuba and the Holy See never severed diplomatic relations, however, and tension began to diminish in the 1980s.

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