Pope Francis Is Credited With a Crucial Role in U.S.-Cuba Agreement
By JIM YARDLEY and GAIA PIANIGIANI

ROME — Pope Francis had quite a 78th birthday. The pontiff began Wednesday with prayers and a birthday celebration with tango dancers near St. Peter’s Square. His day ended with a historic diplomatic breakthrough between Cuba and the United States — and the disclosure that the Argentine pope played a key role as broker.

Francis is being credited for helping bridge the divide by first sending letters to President Obama and President Raúl Castro of Cuba, and then having the Vatican host a diplomatic meeting between the two sides in October.

“The Holy Father wishes to express his warm congratulations for the historic decision,” Francis said in a statement issued Wednesday night by the Vatican.

Vatican spokesmen declined to provide any details about Francis’s letters, other than that he encouraged the two sides to resolve “humanitarian questions”; resolve the release of political prisoners, including an American held by Cuba, Alan P. Gross; and “initiate a new phase in relations.”

The Vatican’s most senior official after the pope, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state, moderated the October meeting after the two countries sought out the Vatican as a trusted broker near the conclusion of their negotiations.

For Francis, the breakthrough on Wednesday burnished his efforts to reposition the Vatican as a broker in global diplomacy. He has already waded into Middle East protests, hosting a prayer summit meeting between the Israeli and Palestinian presidents that bore few tangible results. Soon afterward, Israel began its military assault against Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, in Gaza.

But Francis has quickly become one of the world’s leading figures, and his role in the United States-Cuba breakthrough undoubtedly is tied to his status as the first Latin American pope of the Roman Catholic Church.

“He knows the Cuban situation by heart,” said Gianni La Bella, a professor of contemporary history and an expert in Latin American Catholicism, as well as a member of the Community of Sant’Egidio, a liberal Catholic group active in international affairs. “He visited when he was a cardinal and has a strong relationship with the archbishop of Havana, who is obviously a strategic player in this.”

In April, the Vatican and Cuba celebrated 79 years of diplomatic relations as they jointly staged a photography exhibition at a church in Rome. Although the Vatican has had problems with Havana, it steadfastly opposes the American embargo and has kept diplomatic lines open.

Fidel Castro visited the Vatican in 1996 and met with Pope John Paul II. Two years later, John Paul visited Cuba, where he criticized the embargo as causing hardship for ordinary people and called for it to be rescinded. His successor, Pope Benedict XVI, also visited Cuba, in 2012.

“I was in Cuba for almost two years, and I understand what this news means to the island,” said Msgr. Angelo Becciu, once the Vatican’s ambassador to Cuba. “It opens new scenarios and gives great hope to all Cuban people. The cease of the embargo will encourage and revitalize the island’s perspectives, as well as its economy.”

After he became pope in 2013, Francis was expected to revitalize the church in the Southern Hemisphere. But his background has also helped the Vatican reposition itself as an independent actor in diplomacy, less tethered to European or American worldviews than in the past.

Francis’s appointment of Cardinal Parolin as secretary of state was also significant. Long considered one of the Vatican’s most talented diplomats, Cardinal Parolin served as apostolic nuncio in Venezuela, one of Cuba’s closest allies. From that perch, Cardinal Parolin gained a sophisticated understanding of regional dynamics and the Cuban predicament, Professor La Bella said.

“The Vatican’s knowledge of the Latin American situation is at a very high level, and very direct,” he said.

Monsignor Becciu, currently a member of the State Secretariat in the Vatican, added that Wednesday’s announcement, on Francis’s birthday, was certainly a “beautiful present for the Holy Father.”

美國、古巴大和解 教宗「最佳媒人」

一年半內，美國總統歐巴馬和古巴總統勞爾．卡斯楚的少數核心幕僚九度會商，雙邊中斷五十三年的邦交得以恢復，天主教教宗方濟各是關鍵人物。巧的是，兩國元首十七日同步召開記者會，當天正好是教宗七十八歲生日。

教宗十七日接見各國使節時表示，外交是「崇高的工作」，需要「很多微小步驟和細節，達成和平與博愛的目標。」

教廷發布聲明，證實教宗近月曾致函給歐巴馬和卡斯楚，敦促雙方化解對人道議題的歧見，包括換囚，「兩國代表團十月在梵蒂岡針對敏感議題進行建設性對話，得到雙方都能接受的解決方案。」

相較於教廷新聞稿的輕描淡寫，歐巴馬在記者會上兩度提及教宗，並感謝他的參與，說明了教宗在兩國恢復建交談判間的分量。

美國和古巴的九次會商分別在加拿大和梵蒂岡舉行。今年三月廿七日，歐巴馬當面向教宗簡報兩國談判進度。幾天過後，教宗寫信給歐巴馬和卡斯楚，籲請雙方努力達成協定。

白宮高層官員匿名告訴紐約時報，出身阿根廷的教宗在拉丁美洲的分量很高，發言很能引起各國領導人的共鳴，就算古巴也不能輕忽。官員說，雙方關係能有重大突破，靠的是雙方都能信任的第三方，教宗正是扮演兩國履行協定的「保證人」。

英國衛報形容，協助美古破冰，堪稱是梵蒂岡卅年來最重要的外交成就。一九八四年，智利與阿根廷為了三座島嶼的主權紛爭差點開戰，後來靠梵蒂岡的調停才化解危機。

已故教宗若望保祿二世1998年曾造訪古巴。歐巴馬想和古巴破冰尋求教廷協助時，當時的教宗是方濟各的前任本篤十六世。方濟各去年繼位後，態度和行動更為積極。

教廷國務卿帕洛林原本是教廷駐委內瑞拉大使，熟悉加勒比海當地政情，據信在美古談判過程中出力甚多。

美古雙方談判代表十月在梵蒂岡的會面，敲定協議的最後條件。美國期中選舉落幕後兩天，十一月六日，歐巴馬召開國安會議，同意對古巴採取新政策。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/world/americas/breakthrough-on-cuba-highlights-popes-role-as-diplomatic-broker.html

Video：Raw: Hundreds Tango Dance for Pope’s Birthday
http://youtu.be/j65aew-F9UQ

2014-12-19．聯合報．A21．國際．編譯張佑生、華府記者賴昭穎