Pope meets Fidel Castro after Mass in Havana

While Cuba basks in the glow of Pope Francis' four-day visit, it is not clear whether Pope will use the stage on Sunday to criticise the Communist leaders

Pope Francis, Latin America’s first pope, met Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro on Sunday, discussing religion and world affairs at the home of the 89-year-old retired president.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the meeting lasted about 40 minutes and was “very familiar, fraternal and friendly.” Castro’s wife and several children and grandchildren were present.

Francis gave Castro several of his official papal writings as well as two books on spirituality and a book and CD on the writings of Father Armando Llorente, a Jesuit priest who taught Castro in high school.

Castro gave him a copy of Fidel and Religion, a 1985 book of interviews with a Brazilian priest and writer that lifted a taboo about speaking about religion in Cuba, which was then officially atheist.

The spokesman said there were no official photographers at the meeting and the Vatican would not release pictures.

He said it would be up to the Castro family to decide whether to release pictures taken with phones. Fidel Castro, the older brother of President Raul Castro, led the Cuban government from 1959 until he resigned for health reasons, at first provisionally in 2006 and then definitively in 2008

Earlier, Pope Francis celebrated Mass in Havana’s Revolution Square and warned Cubans against the dangers of ideology as their country enters a new era of closer ties with the United States.

Tens of thousands of people were in the square where Cubans celebrate May Day beneath massive portraits of revolutionary leaders Ernesto “Che” Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos built into the facades of state buildings.

“Service is never ideological for we do not serve ideas, we serve people,” he said in his homily of the Mass, which was attended by President Raul Castro and top members of the communist government.

Cuban police kept some dissidents from attending the Pope’s Mass on Sunday morning and pounced on others apparently attempting to hand out flyers near the plaza.

Francis appeared to appeal to Cubans to look after each other as the country faces social changes and economic openings.