The Secretary for Relations with States and International Organisations of the Holy See, Monsignor Paul Richard Gallagher, begins today the programme of his official visit to Cuba.

In the context of the celebrations for the 90th anniversary of the establishment of relations between the Antillean nation and the Apostolic See, the Archbishop arrived in Havana on Tuesday night.

On his arrival at José Martí International Airport, he was received by Deputy Foreign Minister Elio Rodríguez, the head of the Office of Religious Affairs of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, Caridad Diego, and the Apostolic Nuncio Antoine Camilleri.

According to a notification from the island’s Foreign Ministry, Monsignor Gallagher’s presence in Havana is «a sign of the positive state of relations between the two states».

His agenda here includes participation in a postal cancellation ceremony to mark the 90th anniversary of bilateral ties.

He is also scheduled to meet the Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez, and to attend a Mass of Thanksgiving for the beginning of the Pontificate of His Holiness Leo XIV.

He is also due to attend the inauguration of an exhibition on relations between Cuba and the Holy See, meet members of the Cuban Bishops’ Conference and visit the Paula Church Home for the Elderly.

Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States since November 2014, is scheduled to conclude the visit on Friday.