Follow the Pope's visit day-by-day:   Day 2  |  Day 3  |  Day 4

Icons at the Crossroads  |  Cuba and Catholicism  |  An Exile Returns
Testing the Embargo  |  Live Webcasts  |  The Struggling Revolution  |  Related links

Icons at the crossroads

(CNN) -- Cuban President Fidel Castro and Pope John Paul II arrive at their historic meeting in Havana from opposite directions, but in many ways they are arriving together.

These two strong and independently minded leaders, both in their 70s, are nearing the twilight of their careers. Both surely would like one more landmark achievement to cap their legacies.

Fidel Castro on Christianity

Pope John Paul II on Communism

Each promises to gain much by meeting.

For Castro, it's a boost in stature at home and worldwide. By welcoming the pope, he earns his country's favor and softens the world's harsh opinion of him.

The Cuban leader also gets to needle Washington; the pope is almost certain to repeat his public condemnation of the United States' embargo on Cuba.

At home, Castro can bank on winning support among at least some Cubans by openly acknowledging the Catholic faithful with such a grand gesture. And in a country used to being shunned, the publicity and prestige of such a prominent world figure's visit will be appreciated.

For John Paul, credited with helping to topple communism in Eastern Europe, the visit will secure recognition for the Catholic church in one of the world's last communist strongholds.

The politically savvy pope knows from experience that his trips create a wedge that can be used to bring greater freedom to closed systems. By extension, he is doing what he can to pull Cuba peacefully out of its geo-political isolation.

"As we look toward an eventual transition [in Cuba] -- and that seems like a matter of time -- we look toward what kind of transition it will be," said the Most Rev. Thomas Wenski, a Miami bishop who will travel to Cuba for the pope's visit.

"The stronger the church is in a situation like Cuba, the better the chance that the situation will be more peaceful, with a more democratic outcome."

Sharing power of conviction

The paths of Castro and the pope to this point cross in other ways, too.

Both men are dedicated men of the cloth -- one in the revolution's fatigues, the other in church robes -- who sit at the top of well-defined hierarchies.

And though Castro champions faith in the government and the pope leads millions of Christians, they both have a stated goal of caring for the underprivileged.

"They share a larger agenda: a common opposition to current free-market capitalism," which the pope regards as "sinful" and Castro as "shameful," notes Latin American expert Saul Landau of California State Polytechnic University at Pomona.

On a more personal level, Castro and the pope, as individuals of powerful convictions, commitment and charisma, are likely to understand each other.

The reports of their first and only other meeting, a private audience at the Vatican in November 1996, prompted observers to wonder aloud about the potential for compromise between these traditional adversaries.

Tad Szulc, a renowned journalist who knows both men, remarked in Newsweek magazine on the "quasi-mystical bond" that appeared to exist between them. He suggested Castro showed "deference, if not veneration," while the pope extended "paternal warmth" to one who may be said to be a long-lapsed Catholic.

At some level, Castro knows about Catholicism. Though he officially stripped Cuba of religion after his rise to power in 1959, his mother was devout and he spent his formative years studying with the Jesuits.

And John Paul, who rose to prominence in Soviet-dominated Poland and helped the Solidarity movement push for Polish liberation, understands how to operate within the Communist framework.

But differences remain

These two leaders certainly also have deep differences. The pope, shortly after getting the job, passed up an invitation to visit Cuba in 1979, which Castro took as a snub.

And for this visit, the two sides argued over control of television broadcasts, even after Castro met a key condition John Paul insists on before visiting any country -- free and direct access to the people.

Still, the public emphasis of Fidel Castro and John Paul's meeting is not on politics, but polite good will.

Castro has gradually eased restrictions on the church and, in December, recognized Christmas as a holiday in his country for the first time in years. The pope is stressing his religious appeal to Catholics over any ideological agenda.

Whatever the outcome of the private discussions between these two ideological icons, the public image will be indelible: these two men, standing together on their own terms, in Cuba. They may regard that as an accomplishment that is legacy enough for both.

Follow the Pope's visit day-by-day:   Day 2  |  Day 3  |  Day 4

Icons at the Crossroads  |  Cuba and Catholicism  |  An Exile Returns
Testing the Embargo  |  Live Webcasts  |  The Struggling Revolution  |  Related links

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