The pontiff "is a Jesuit, and I, in some way, am too," Raul Castro said at a news conference at the office of Italian Premier Matteo Renzi, with whom he met after his Vatican talks with Pope Francis. "I always studied at Jesuit schools."

“When the pope goes to Cuba in September, I promise to go to all his Masses, and with satisfaction. I read all the speeches of the pope, his commentaries, and if the pope continues this way, I will go back to praying and go back to the Church, and I'm not joking," he said.

Speaking about Francis, Raul Castro said he has been "very impressed by the popes’ wisdom, his modesty, and all his virtues that we know he has."

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." Matthew 6:24 [or communism or Mary or the pope or…]