Cuba Declares Christmas National Holiday

Fidel Castro offered Sunday to declare this Christmas a national holiday in officially atheist Cuba - a one-time event in honor of Pope John Paul II’s visit.

In Rome, the Vatican expressed “satisfaction” at the gesture, which the pontiff had sought directly during a meeting with Castro in Italy last year.

The Cuban president said Sunday he would present the proposal to those in charge of organizing the pope’s mid-January visit - the first-ever to Cuba by a Roman Catholic pontiff. But Castro stressed that it would be an official holiday for one year only, Cuba’s Prensa Latina news agency reported.

Prensa Latina reporters, however, said the proposal was sure to be accepted because the organizing committee is made up of Castro appointees.