Castro and 2 Cardinals Attend Convent Opening

Cuban leader Fidel Castro made what he called a gesture of peace to the Roman Catholic Church, attending the opening of a convent in Havana.

Castro, who repressed Catholicism in his first decades in power, donated the colonial palace of a Spanish count to house the nuns. Castro, who wore a suit instead of his usual fatigues, said the dedication marked the fifth anniversary of the 1998 visit to Cuba by Pope John Paul II.

The event was attended by two cardinals, but the archbishop of Havana was notably absent. He publicly criticized Castro’s government in a recent pastoral letter.