--- description: Pope Francis is reportedly considering a trip to the island. Pope John Paul II visited in 1998. title: Pope Francis Considers Cuba Visit: History of the Vatican and Castro image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf11ed57e1531c274/6987ebaa524fc03d24df045e/1101980126_400.jpg?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [faith](/tag/faith/) ## faith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How the Vatican and Cuba Came Together  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Apr 17, 2015 3:05 PM CUT  The Jan. 26, 1998 cover of TIME The Jan. 26, 1998 cover of TIMECover Credit: GERARD RANCINAN  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Apr 17, 2015 3:05 PM CUT The Vatican’s [statement](http://time.com/3826246/pope-cuba/ "undefined") on Friday that Pope Francis is “considering” a visit to Cuba when he is in North America in the fall has brought new attention to the special relationship between the island nation and the Catholic leader. The Pope has been [credited](http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-obama-cuba-20150410-story.html "undefined") with encouraging the recent signs of rapprochement between the United States and Cuba, something his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, also spoke in favor of during a 2012 trip to Cuba. Though Cuba has historic ties to the Catholic religion, that special relationship is really only two decades old: It was around 1995 that Fidel Castro began working on what ended up being Pope John Paul II’s 1998 visit to Cuba. The anti-religion stance of strict Marxism had kept Cubans away from religion for decades and the crumbling of the Soviet Union only led Cuba to dig in, with hopes of proving the ideology’s endurance. At the same time, however, that period of enforcement was one of economic hardship, perhaps contributing to a rise in interest in both spiritual help and religious charity. “In 1991 Castro rescinded the ban against Christians’ joining the Communist Party,” writer Johanna McGeary explained, “and in 1992 he declared Cuba a secular, not an atheist, state.” That change had been a long time coming: --- > “” --- Castro’s goals in eventually inviting the Pope for the 1998 visit were complex, and the [results](http://time.com/vault/issue/1998-02-02/page/64/ "undefined") at first seemed modest. Large crowds had turned out to see John Paul II but no major news was made by either side. (Another contributing factor in the lack of news made by the visit: that was the same week President Clinton denied having sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky.) But today, many years later, it’s clear that the papal visit of 1998 did change something. It restarted a relationship between Cuba and the Vatican — a relationship that just might get another chapter very soon. **_Read the full story, here in the TIME Vault:_** [Clash of Faiths](http://time.com/vault/issue/1998-01-26/page/28/ "undefined") ### A History of Cuba-U.S. Relations in 13 TIME Covers  Fulgencio Batista on the Apr. 26, 1937, cover of TIME TIME  Fidel Castro on the Jan. 26, 1959, cover of TIME Cover Credit: BORIS CHALIAPIN  Che Guevara on the Aug. 8, 1960, cover of TIME Cover Credit: BERNARD SAFRAN  Jose Miro Cardona on the Apr. 28, 1961, cover of TIME TIME  Blas Roca on the Apr. 27, 1962, cover of TIME Cover Credit: BERNARD SAFRAN  Adm. George Anderson on the Nov. 2, 1962, cover of TIME Boris Chaliapin  Fidel Castro on the Oct. 8, 1965, cover of TIME Cover Credit: BERNARD SAFRAN  Fidel Castro (and others) on the Jun. 13, 1969, cover of TIME Cover Credit: KARSH, HARRY REDL, BEN MARTIN.  Fidel Castro and Cyrus Vance on the Sept. 17, 1979, cover of TIME Cover Credit: RODDEY E. MIMS; HIRES-GAMMA/LIAISON.  Fidel Castro on the Dec. 6, 1993, cover of TIME Cover Credit: GIANFRANCO GORGONI  The Sept. 5, 1994, cover of TIME Cover Credit: PAUL DAVIS  Fidel Castro on the Feb. 20, 1995, cover of TIME Cover Credit: DAVID BURNETT  Fidel Castro and the Pope on the Jan. 26, 1998, cover of TIME Cover Credit: GERARD RANCINAN ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3826410/pope-cuba-1998/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3826410/pope-cuba-1998/"},"headline":"How the Vatican and Cuba Came Together","datePublished":"2015-04-17T15:05:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:04:31.746Z","description":"John Paul II visited the island in 1998","url":"https://time.com/3826410/pope-cuba-1998/","keywords":["faith","Cuba topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf11ed57e1531c274/6987ebaa524fc03d24df045e/1101980126_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf11ed57e1531c274/6987ebaa524fc03d24df045e/1101980126_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Jan. 26, 1998","caption":"Jan. 26, 1998","creditText":"Cover Credit: GERARD RANCINAN","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/faith/","name":"faith"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3826410/pope-cuba-1998/","name":"How the Vatican and Cuba Came Together"}}]}] ```