Vatican: Pope’s Cuba Trip Should Help Democracy

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican No. 2 has said Pope Benedict XVI’s upcoming trip to Cuba should help promote democracy on the Communist-run island.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone dismissed suggestions that Raul Castro’s government could use the trip as a propaganda tool, saying he expected an outpouring of support for the pope because he is the head of the Catholic Church.

Bertone spoke in an interview Thursday with the Turin daily La Stampa on the eve of his six-day trip to Mexico and Cuba.

While a meeting with Fidel Castro isn’t on the official agenda, the Vatican has said it could happen if Castro wants it.

Pope John Paul II made a historic visit to Cuba in 1998. Bertone said that trip led to progress in religious freedom and better church-state cooperation.