Pope Benedict XVI arrived on Monday for a three-day visit to Cuba, the aim of which is to strengthen relations between the Roman Catholic Church and Cuba.
The Pope will advocate for a greater role for the church at a time of change in the communist island country.
Cuban President Raul Castro and a delegation of Cuban officials met the 84-year-old pope at the airport in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba's second-largest city, where he flew in from Mexico.
"Cuba has good relations with all religious institutions in our country," Castro told the Pope on that occasion.
The Pope supported Castro's reforms and appealed to him to modernize Cuba economically and politically even more and at a greater speed. Cuban dissidents demanded a meeting with the pope, but the Vatican said that was not in the plan for the visit
On Tuesday, the Pope will visit the Cuban capital, Havana, according to the agencies.
Cuba was an officially atheist country until the early 90s.
After years of intolerance between the Cuban authorities and the church following the Cuban Revolution of 1959, Castro began using the church as an interlocutor on issues such as political prisoners and dissidents, while implementing economic reform.
During the visit, Benedict XVI is expected to offer more help to the church in the transition.
He supported Castro's reforms and appealed to him to modernize Cuba even more and faster, both economically and politically.
Cuban dissidents demanded a meeting with the pope, but the Vatican said that was not in the plan for the visit.
It is not known whether Benedict XVI will talk to former Cuban President Fidel Castro (85), Raul's older brother, or Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (57), who arrived in Cuba last weekend for cancer treatment.
Chávez has begun to express his religious feelings more publicly since he underwent cancer surgery in Cuba last summer. According to AP, according to unconfirmed reports, the pope is supposed to speak with him in Havana.
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