Havana, Cuba, Sep 20, 2015 / 11:40 am
The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Francis and former Cuban president Fidel Castro held a brief meeting after Sunday Mass and the Angelus today.
Pope Francis, accompanied by a few other Vatican representatives including Apostolic Nuncio to Cuba, Archbishop Giorgio Lingua, traveled to Fidel Castro's home where the two talked about the environment and "the great problems of the contemporary world."
"Naturally, the themes of the conversation were about the dramatic themes of today and about the environment," Vatican Press secretary, Fr. Federico Lombardi told journalists in Havana Sept. 20.
The two exchanged a few books, since during his 2012 visit, Pope Benedict XVI told Castro that he would "send him some interesting books to read."