Castro thanks Pope Francis for brokering Cuba-US deal

Cuban President Raul Castro has praised Pope Francis for brokering the restoration of relations between Cuba and the US.

At the end of an audience at the Vatican, Castro said he had thanked the Pope for his contribution for the historic rapprochement.

"Bienvenido!" Francis said on Sunday in his native Spanish, welcoming Castro in a studio near the Vatican public audience hall. The Cuban president, bowing his head, gripped Francis' hand with both of his, and the two men began their private talks.

The meeting lasted nearly an hour, a generous amount of time by Vatican standards, especially considering that the Argentine-born Francis and Castro spoke in Spanish, without the need of interpreters that often use up time in other papal VIP talks.

Secret negotiations to put an end to more than five decades of hostilities were carried out inside the Vatican.

The Pope will visit Cuba on his way to the US in September.

"I am very happy. I have come here to thank him for what he has done to begin solving the problems of the United States and Cuba," Castro said.

After the audience with the Pope, Castro said he was so impressed by a Vatican audience with Pope Francis that he might return to the faith he was born into.

Castro praised the pontiff's wisdom, adding: "I will resume praying and turn to the Church again if the Pope continues in this vein."

Francis was in an upbeat mood, too. "I ruined your Sunday," the pope quipped to journalists after the meeting.

He gave Castro a medal depicting St Martin of Tours, known for caring for the destitute.

"With his mantle he covers the poor," Francis told Castro, saying more efforts on behalf of the poor are needed.

The Catholic Church has maintained ties with Havana since the 1959 revolution.

Castro's brother, Fidel, the Cuban revolutionary leader who ruled for decades before Raul, met with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in 1996. That Vatican encounter helped pave the way for John Paul's 1998 pilgrimage to Cuba, the first visit by a pontiff to the island.

With the Vatican keen on protecting its Catholic followers in Cuba, Francis' predecessor, Benedict XVI, also visited the island.