Havana, June 8 (RHC)-- The scheduled visit to Cuba of Pope Francis in September will serve to further strengthen friendship ties between the Caribbean country and the Vatican.

An article in this morning's edition of the daily newspaper Granma recalls the 80 years of bilateral relations between Cuba and the Holy See. The article also mentions a meeting last month between Cuban President Raul Castro and the first Latin American Pope, which opened the way for the Pontiff's visit to the Caribbean country next September 19th through the 22nd, before a planned U.S. tour.

Pope Francis will visit Cuba three years after the visit here by his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, who was received by President Raul Castro and visited Santiago de Cuba and Havana, where hundreds of thousands of Cubans greeted him at the iconic José Martí Revolution Square.

The visit of Pope Francis will be the third by a bishop of Rome to Cuba. The first such visit was by Pope John Paul II in 1998.