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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTHE POPE STRIKES AGAIN!---White House Credits Pope Francis For Facilitating Cuba Deal
WASHINGTON Pope Francis was instrumental in facilitating the normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba, a senior White House official said Wednesday.
President Obama is expected to announce a deal with the Caribbean nation Wednesday afternoon that will pave the way for the first U.S. embassy on Cuban soil since the Kennedy administration and a relaxing of many of the American economic and travel restrictions on Cuba that have defined the relationship between the two nations for decades.
Francis played a big role in bringing the longtime rivals to the negotiating table, the official said. Francis sent what was characterized as an extraordinary personal letter to Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro over the summer, urging both parties to end their frosty relationship. Following the letter, and the negotiations, Obama and Castro had a phone conversation that helped lead to Wednesdays announcement.
The letter gave us greater impetus and momentum for us to move forward, the administration official said. The Vatican was the only government that participated in the negotiations between the U.S. and Cuba. Vatican officials were in those meetings, the official said.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/evanmcsan/white-house-credits-pope-francis-for-facilitating-cuba-deal#.guZXxjR8y
silverweb
(16,402 posts)[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]The Prayer of St. Francis begins:
"Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace...."
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)Pope Frankie,here it comes.
0rganism
(23,932 posts)ucrdem
(15,512 posts)upaloopa
(11,417 posts)asking them to reverse the income inequity.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)Dawson Leery
(19,348 posts)Republican Catholic Channel react?
DesertFlower
(11,649 posts)nichomachus
(12,754 posts)You mean the one where we tried to invade their country, kill their leader (multiple times), destroy their economy, and impoverish their people -- and they took exception to it?
ananda
(28,838 posts)While I deplore some of Pope Francis' stances regarding women,
I think his spirit of love and compassion for the poor and his
efforts on behalf of reconciliation are wonderful.
He's about as perfect as the rest of us, but I can't help but say something nice when he does the right thing.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)to be the kindest man to hold the office in a long time. He knows the power that he has, and he wields it wisely.