Pope Benedict XVI meets with Cuban President Raul Castro. Pope Benedict is only the second pope to visit this Caribbean island nation.<br/> <br />Castro and the pontiff held an hour-long private meeting at the Council of State and Ministers, which the Vatican later described as "significant".<br/> <br />The Pope reportedly asked the Cuban president to recognise Good Friday as a holiday.<br/> <br />Years earlier, his predecessor John Paul II had petitioned Cuba to recognise Christmas Day as a national holiday.<br/> <br />On Tuesday, thousands turned out to attend a mass in Santiago de Cuba held by the Pope.<br/> <br />He is due to give a second open-air mass in Havana's vast Revolution Square before heading back to Rome.<br/> <br />Simon Hanna, Reuters.
