Pope Francis helped broker Cuba deal between President Obama and Raul Castro


New details are emerging about the months-long, secret negotiations between the U.S. and Cuba that led to today's announcement that the two countries are normalizing diplomatic relations for the first time in 50 years. The one that really stood out was the involvement of Pope Francis, according to The New York Times:
In a deal negotiated during 18 months of secret talks hosted largely by Canada and encouraged by Pope Francis who hosted a final culminating meeting at the Vatican, President Obama and President Raul Castro of Cuba agreed in a telephone call to put aside decades of hostility to find a new relationship between the island nation just 90 minutes off the American coast. [The New York Times]
Francis' involvement harks back to the days of Pope John Paul II, when the Catholic Church was a major player in efforts to defeat communism around the world.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Ryu Spaeth is deputy editor at TheWeek.com. Follow him on Twitter.
-
JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort & Spa: beachfront paradise in Thailand
The Week Recommends This luxury resort in Phang Nga is the perfect place to relax and unwind
-
Selfies ban in art galleries: a sign of the times?
Talking Point Priceless art has been damaged by visitors desperate to take a snap with star attractions, leading some galleries and museums to start fighting back
-
Quiz of The Week: 21 – 27 June
Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
Southern Baptists endorse gay marriage ban
Speed Read The largest US Protestant denomination voted to ban same-sex marriage and pornography at their national meeting
-
Prevost elected first US pope, becomes Leo XIV
speed read Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost is a Chicago native who spent decades living in Peru
-
Pope Francis dies at 88
Speed Read 'How much contempt is stirred up at times toward the vulnerable, the marginalized and migrants,' Pope Francis wrote in his final living message
-
Pope returns to Vatican after long hospital stay
Speed Read Pope Francis entered the hospital on Feb. 14 and battled double pneumonia
-
Texas megachurch founder charged with sex crimes
Speed Read Robert Morris, former spiritual adviser to President Donald Trump, is accused of sexually abusing a child
-
Pope Francis suffers setback with respiratory episodes
Speed Read The 88-year-old pope continues to battle pneumonia
-
US Christianity's long decline has halted, Pew finds
Speed Read 62% of Americans call themselves Christian, a population that has been 'relatively stable' for the past five years
-
Pope Francis hospitalized with 'complex' illness
Speed Read The Vatican says their leader has a respiratory infection, raising new concerns about his health