Pope Francis was a central player in helping secure a historic deal between the Obama administration and Cuba to begin normalizing relations, a senior administration official said Wednesday.
In a letter sent to both President Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro over the summer, Francis “personally issued an appeal” to both leaders to pursue a closer relationship.
{mosads}The pope called on Cuba to “resolve” the case of Alan Gross, an American aid worker who had been jailed for five years after bringing telecommunications equipment to the island, and implored President Obama to release three Cubans convicted of spying on anti-Castro groups in Miami.
All four were released as part of a broader deal Obama is expected to announce Wednesday, which will also significantly scale back travel and trade restrictions on Cuba and see the U.S. establish an embassy in Havana.
Pope Francis expressed “his warm congratulations for the historic decision” in a statement issued by the Vatican on Wednesday, saying he hoped the move would help the two countries overcome “the difficulties which have marked their recent history.”
“The Holy See will continue to assure its support for initiatives which both nations will undertake to strengthen their bilateral relations and promote the wellbeing of their respective citizens,” the Vatican said.
According to the senior administration official, the Pope’s letter “gave us greater impetus and momentum for us to move forward” with preliminary talks first authorized by President Obama in 2013.
“The support of Pope Francis, the support of the Vatican, was important to us given the esteem with which both the American and Cuban people hold the Catholic Church, and, in particular, Pope Francis who, as you know, has a substantial history in Latin America — the first pope to be selected from Latin America,” the official said.
The letter was not the first time Francis had raised the issue, according to officials. During the president’s visit to the Vatican in March, Francis pressed Obama on U.S. relations with Cuba.
“Cuba was a topic of discussion that got as much attention as anything else the two of them discussed,” the official said.
And the Vatican also played a key part in facilitating the final agreement. Although preliminary discussions took place over the course of months in Canada, the final details were hammered out during a summit between U.S. and Cuban officials hosted by the Vatican this fall. Members of the Church attended and participated in the meetings.
“We were able to review the commitments we’re making today in terms of the exchange of assets, in terms of the release of Alan Gross, and in terms of some of the other changes in relations we are pursuing,” the official said.
This post was updated at 1:48 p.m.