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Church in the WorldBertone may meet Raul CastroCuba Robert Mickens - 23 February 2008The Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, was due to arrive in Havana on Thursday at the start of a six-day visit that he said he hoped would include a meeting with Raul Castro, who is likely to succeed his brother Fidel as Cuban president, writes Robert Mickens. Fidel Castro stepped down this week. Cardinal Bertone planned his trip to the Caribbean island nation some months ago in order to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Pope John Paul II's historic January 1998 visit to Cuba. Vatican Radio reported that a meeting between the cardinal and the country's foreign minister was already planned for Monday, but with Cuba's National Assembly poised to appoint the younger Castro as president on Sunday, there were hopes that the Vatican's highest-ranking official after the Pope would be able to meet the new Cuban leader. "History will say if it is a good day," said leading dissident and lay Catholic Oswaldo Paya of Castro's departure. Raul Castro should first "free all political prisoners and establish freedom of expression, press and assembly". (See Clare Dixon, page 16.) |
 In this week’s issueMaking markets moral Iron and velvet Love in a Catholic climate Someone to talk to A good Lent takes planning South American surprise Is the Church too slow in recognising that academies are the future for Catholic schools? Christopher Lamb Goodwin the scapegoat Elena Curti The pain of being a coeliac Catholic Sr M, guest contributor Why the Benedictine family will survive Christopher Lamb The Church's moral obligation to victims of clerical sexual abuse Speeches from this week's conference in Rome This week in Rome bishops and religious superiors met at the first Vatican-backed symposium devoted to forging a global response to the crisis of clerical sexual abuse that has disgraced ... Archbishop voices 'shame and sorrow' after priest's abuse trial Longley to visit parishes 'damaged' by Walsh Today, Tuesday 7 February, Bede Walsh, who served as a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, has been convicted by a jury, following a 10-day trial at Stoke-on-Trent ...
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