Raul Castro Meets Pope Francis.

In the Pope Francis story of the week, it's being reported (aljazeera.com - npr.org - cnn.com - bbc.com - foxnews.com) that following his visit to Russia to commemorate World War Two Victory Day, Cuba dictator Raul Castro made a stop at the Vatican to thank Pope Francis for his help in easing the tensions between Cuba and the United States.

In all the stories, emphasis was placed on Castro's statement that, if Pope Francis continues to proceed along the path he's taking, Castro might return to the Catholic faith.

"I will resume praying and turn to the Church again if the Pope continues in this vein," Raul Castro told reporters.

With the exception off the BBC, the media is taking Castro at his word. In his analysis for the BBC Will Grant hints that Castro's statement may be tongue in cheek. Grant points out that the state-run newspaper Granma omitted Mr Castro's comments about returning to the Church when it reported the meeting on its website.

I would hope that Castro was serious in his remarks. It could only improve conditions for the Cubans - it might even keep Raul Castro out of Hell.

Not everyone agrees that Castro's returning to the Church would be a positive step. Many of the comments on the NPR report of the story were hostile to the Church.

The Original DB wrote: "Well, joining the Catholic Church would certainly be the best place to go to get some expert advice on swindling people".

In his version of history,Dillard Jenkins wrote: "I do not trust Catholics with my freedom. In fact it was chiefly the Catholic church that brought slavery to the West Indies following Christopher Columbus's stumbling into these islands will looking for a shortcut to India".

From Ron Conti: "The pope inspires me also. But not enough to want to attend any church let alone the Catholic church. The church destroyed that feeling years ago".

We'll just wait and see how this unfolds.