After meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican yesterday, Cuban President Raul Castro said he was so impressed with the pope that he’s considering returning to the practice of Catholicism.

The Associated Press is reporting on the meeting which took place on May 10 in the pope’s studio near the Vatican public audience hall. He greeted Castro in his native Spanish and proceeded to engage in an hour-long private meeting with the Cuban president.

Afterward Castro, whose brother Fidel started the revolution that brought communism to Cuba more than 50 years ago, was full of praise for Francis’ many virtues, particularly his wisdom and modesty.

`’When the pope goes to Cuba in September, I promise to go to all his Masses, and with satisfaction,” Castro said about the pope’s visit which will precede his arrival in the U.S. in September.

He particularly related to Francis being a Jesuit because “I always studied at Jesuit schools,” Castro said.

“I read all the speeches of the pope, his commentaries, and if the pope continues this way, I will go back to praying and go back to the church, and I’m not joking.”

Although he admitted that he is from the Cuban Communist Party, which doesn’t allow religious belief, “now we are allowing it, and it’s an important step,” he said.

Castro also expressed gratitude for the role Francis played in bringing Havana and Washington together after decades of an economic embargo.

During the meeting, Francis gave Castro a medal depicting St. Martin of Tours, known for caring for the destitute.

“With his mantle he covers the poor,” Francis told Castro and urged him to do more for the poor in his country.

If changes come to Cuba as a result of this meeting, it won’t be the first time. A meeting between Raul’s famous brother and Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in 1996 opened the door for the historic visit of the pope to Cuba in 1998.

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