Wojtyla said Castro was Best Prepared for Pope's visit

Wojtyla once told Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone that possibly no Head of State was better prepared than Castro for a Pope’s visit. Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone reveals in the book “Un cuore grande, Omaggio a Giovanni Paolo II” that Fidel Castro was really looking forward to John Paul II’s historic visit to Cuba in 1998. “John Paul II told me that possibly no other Head of State had so thoroughly prepared for a Pope’s visit“.

Karol Wojtyla criticised the U.S. embargo against the island, although he never explicitly mentioned Cuba, and Fidel Castro “showed great affection for the Pope” Bertone reveals.