Fidel Castro, communist leader who met three Popes, dies at 90   
      
   After hearing of the death of Fidel Castro, former president and leader   
   communist revolution in Cuba, late Friday evening, Pope Francis sent a   
   telegram offering his prayers for the deceased and the entire nation.   
      
   Upon receiving the sad news of the passing of your dear brother, His   
   Excellency Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, former president of the Council   
   of the State and of the Government of the Republic of Cuba, I express my   
   sentiments of sympathy, the Nov. 26 telegram, signed by Pope Francis   
   read.   
      
   Addressed to Fidels brother and the current president of Cuba, Raul   
   Castro, the telegram expressed the Popes closeness to the members of the   
   Castro family, the Cuban government and the entire people of this   
   beloved nation.   
      
   At the same time, I offer prayers to the Lord for his rest and I entrust   
   the entire Cuban people to the maternal intercession of Our Lady of   
   Cobre, Patroness of this country, Francis said.   
      
   In an unexpected televised statement the evening of Nov. 25 local time   
   in Havana, Raul Castro announced that his brother had passed away   
   earlier that evening at the age of 90.   
      
   Fidel, who ruled the island nation as a one-party state for nearly 50   
   years before passing the reigns to his brother in 2008 due to health   
   reasons, died Friday night local time in Havana, having been the longest   
   serving non-royal leader of the 20th century.   
      
   According to his Raul Castros statement, Fidel will be cremated   
   Saturday, and his death will be followed by several days of national   
   mourning on the island. Raul ended his address shouting his brothers   
   revolutionary slogan towards victory, always! BBC News reports.   
      
   Born in the southeastern Oriente province of Cuba in 1926, Fidel Castro   
   went on to lead a largescale rebellion in the country that eventually   
   claimed victory, resulting in his election as Prime Minister and the   
   adoption of Soviet-style communism throughout the island nation.   
      
   After serving several years in prison for inciting an unsuccessful   
   rebellion in 1953, Castro was released under amnesty in 1955, and in   
   1956 began a guerilla war against the government that ultimately led to   
   the ousting of former dictator Fulgencio Batista, and his election as   
   PM, making him the youngest leader in Latin America at the time at age   
   32.   
      
   Castros nearly 50 year reign was marked by stormy moments such as the   
   U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 that severed ties between the   
   U.S. and Cuba, and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 that nearly started   
   a global nuclear war when Castro agreed that USSR forces could deploy   
   nuclear weapons in Cuba.   
      
   Despite the fact that the majority of the world eventually adopted   
   Western-style democracy and other formerly communist regimes such as   
   China and Vietnam had embraced capitalism, Castro held tight to his   
   commitment to socialism.   
      
   Accused of various human rights and religious freedom abuses, Castro was   
   handed a crippling U.S. trade embargo following the Bay of Pigs   
   invasion, and survived several assassination plots. He handed over power   
   to his brother Raul in 2006 due to health reasons, and officially stood   
   down as president in 2008.   
      
   However, despite the tensions under Castros leadership, his regime   
   always maintained open communication and dialogue with the Vatican,   
   making it the only communist nation with which the Holy See never broke   
   ties.   
      
   In fact, Fidel Castro met with three Popes during his lifetime: St. John   
   Paul II, Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, who played a key role in helping   
   to broker the restoration of diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Cuba.   
      
   In 1996, Fidel Castro was received by St. John Paul II in the Vatican,   
   signaling a strengthening in dialogue between the two countries. This   
   encounter eventually paved the way for John Paul IIs historic visit to   
   Cuba in 1998, marking the first time a Pope ever set foot on the island.   
      
   Benedict XVI followed in his predecessors footsteps, traveling to Cuba   
   in 2012 in a move that signaled a new opening on the part of Cuba to the   
   world. Throughout the visit, Raul Castro was frequently at the Pope's   
   side in a show of his desire to update Cuba, and give importance to the   
   visit.   
      
   Pope Francis himself followed suit in 2015, shortly after the U.S. and   
   Cuba announced that they would be taking formal steps to restore   
   diplomatic ties.   
      
   On Dec. 17, 2014, the U.S. and Cuba announced a prisoner exchange as   
   well as the desire to lift the U.S. embargo on travel and trade.   
      
   Although the Obama administration had made small changes to existing   
   policy starting in 2009, including Cuban-Americans having a limited   
   freedom to travel between the countries and send money to Cuba, in 2013   
   secret talks between diplomats began to open up relations, aided by the   
   support of the Vatican.   
      
   Pope Francis made a personal phone call to both U.S. president Barack   
   Obama and Cuban president Raul Castro to come to a deal, particularly   
   regarding diplomacy and long-held prisoners.   
      
   Full diplomatic relations were then officially restored as of midnight   
   July 20, 2015, and embassies were re-opened and flags raised later in   
   the day as an outward sign of the diplomatic thaw.   
      
   When he stepped foot in Havana Sept.19, 2015, for a brief visit to Cuba   
   ahead of his trip to the United States, Pope Francis told officials that   
   the recent normalization of relations between the two countries was a   
   sign of hope and victory.   
      
   For some months now, we have witnessed an event which fills us with   
   hope: the process of normalizing relations between two peoples following   
   years of estrangement, he said.   
      
   Quoting Cuban hero and tireless fighter for the countrys independence,   
   Jos Mart, Francis said the restoration of ties is a sign of the victory   
   of the culture of encounter and dialogue, the system of universal growth   
   over the forever-dead system of groups and dynasties.   
      
   He urged political leaders continue down this path and to develop all   
   its potentialities as a sign of the service they are called to on behalf   
   of the peace and well-being of their peoples, of all America, and as an   
   example of reconciliation for the entire world.   
      
   During his visit, Francis met briefly with Fidel Castro to talk about   
   the problems of contemporary society and to exchange books.   
      
   Raul Castro had visited the Vatican May 10, 2015, just a few months   
   before Pope Francis visit, to speak about the Popes trip as well as his   
   role in restoring relations between the U.S. and Cuba.   
      
   After their meeting, Raul thanked Francis for his active role in helping   
   restore ties between the two nations, and suggested that he return to   
   the Church in the future. I will start praying again and return to the   
   Church if the Pope continues what he has been doing, he said.   
      
   The presidents admiration and appreciation for Pope Francis was made   
   even clearer when earlier this month, in response to an appeal made by   
   the Pope for governments to grant clemency to prisoners, he released 787   
   prisoners in Cuba.   
      
   After celebrating Mass for prisoners in St. Peters Basilica Nov. 6, Pope   
   Francis in his Angelus address asked that as part of the Jubilee of   
   Mercy, competent global authorities would consider granting clemency to   
   eligible inmates.   
      
   Legally speaking, clemency is a power given to a public official, such   
   as a mayor, governor or the president, to in some way modify or lower   
   the harshness of a punishment or sentence imposed on a prisoner.   
      
   In response, Castro pardoned 787 inmates including women, young and sick   
   prisoners who had committed minor crimes, but nothing extremely   
   dangerous such as murder or rape, a statement on the front page of   
   Granma said.   
      
   The statement noted clearly that the Council of State, led by President   
   Raul Castro, issued the pardons in response to the call by Pope Francis   
   to heads of state in the Holy Year of Mercy. In choosing the prisoners,   
   the State took into account the crimes committed, the prisoners conduct   
   and the time serves so far.   
      
   This article was updated at 2p.m. local time in Rome to include the   
   telegram from Pope Francis on the occasion of the death of Fidel Castro.    
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
   --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5   
    * Origin: LiveWireBBS.com -=* Happy Holidays !! *=- Deus Te Ama (1:2320/100)