VATICAN CITY - After almost three decades of tense Catholic-öÏÓãÊÓƵapp Orthodox relations, Pope Francis will meet Patriarch Kirill of Moscow Feb. 12 in Cuba on the Pope's way to Mexico.

VATICAN CITY - Despite the ongoing violence in the Central Africa Republic, Pope Francis wants to visit the country Nov. 29-30, plans for the visit are in place, and the security situation is being monitored, the Vatican spokesman said.

VATICAN CITY - Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said an Italian newspaper's claims about the Pope's health were "entirely unfounded."

HAVANA - Although it was not part of his formal program, Pope Francis took time after Sunday Mass to visit Cuba's ailing former leader, Fidel Castro.

TLALNEPANTLA, Mexico - The president of the Latin American bishops' conference called Pope Francis' planned visit to Cuba an opportunity for the Church to play a larger role in a country experiencing reforms and re-embracing institutionalized religion.

VATICAN CITY - Italian police arrested at least nine people in what officials described as a terrorist cell that had planned, in 2010, to strike at the Vatican with a suicide bomber.