A Cuban Roman Catholic bishop says Church leaders on the island hope Pope Benedict XVI can visit the country in 2012.Emilio Aranguren is bishop of the eastern province of Holguin.
He told reporters Thursday that it is the Church's "hope, our interest, that the pope can come to Cuba in the year 2012."
He said such a visit would coincide with the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the image of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, Cuba's patron saint.
It would be the first papal trip to the communist-run island since John Paul II's historic 1998 Cuba visit.
But, Aranguren noted, "It's up to the Holy See."
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