The Alliance for Cuba Engagement and Respect (ACERE) extends its warmest congratulations to His Holiness Robert Francis Prevost, elected to become the new Pope Leo XIV on May 8, 2025.
As a dual citizen of the United States and Peru, Pope Leo is a fluent Spanish-speaker with deep ties to Latin America, having lived in Peru for over three decades and recently serving as the Bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023.
Up until his election as Pope Leo XIV, Prevost served as president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, charged with overseeing matters regarding the Catholic Church in the region.
Pope Leo XIV has also spent time in Cuba, visiting the island on at least two occasions in his capacity as High General of the Order of Saint Augustine: first in April 2008 to the city of Puerto Padre in the eastern province of Las Tunas, and later in February 2011 to the provinces of Holguín and Ciego de Ávila, where local residents still fondly remember his visit.
The election of Pope Leo XIV comes following the passing of Pope Francis, which marked the loss of a tireless advocate for peace, reconciliation, and the poor whose spiritual leadership played a key role in the historic thawing of U.S.-Cuba relations after decades of estrangement.
In 2014, Pope Francis personally encouraged and facilitated secret negotiations between the Obama and Castro administrations, urging them to “resolve humanitarian questions of common interest…in order to initiate a new phase in relations.” His efforts, including his visit to Cuba and the U.S. in 2015, contributed to the restoration of diplomatic ties that year. Pope Francis’ moral authority and unwavering commitment to peace helped create an environment of trust, demonstrating the power of dialogue over confrontation.
In recent years, Pope Francis privately and publicly urged the Biden administration to remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT) list, arguing that the designation exacerbated suffering on the island and hindered reconciliation. In 2020, he mentioned the ‘grave humanitarian consequences’ of these sanctions.
Pope Francis’s advocacy contributed to a positive –albeit late– change of course in Biden’s Cuba policy in his last days in office. As a result of his efforts, his Holiness helped secure the release of 553 Cuban prisoners, and the U.S. lifted Cuba from the SSOT list, revoked Title III of the Helms-Burton Act and eliminated the Cuba Restricted List — which Trump quickly reversed.
Pope Francis efforts to normalize U.S. Cuba relations demonstrated his unwavering dedication to lifting barriers between peoples. His appeals were rooted not in politics, but in his profound pastoral concern for the Cuban people—a people he often held up as an example of perseverance, resilience and faith.
As we honor his legacy, and celebrate the election of Pope Leo XIV, ACERE hopes that the Vatican’s new leader will sustain Pope Francis’ commitment to compassion over confrontation, dialogue over discord, and the courage to build bridges between the two peoples. May Pope Francis’ example continue to guide efforts toward a more rational and peaceful relationship between the United States and Cuba.
