Pope urges US and Cuba to persevere with detente

Pope Francis has hailed the detente between the US and Cuba as a model of reconciliation for the world.

Francis urged presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro to persevere in building normal ties as he launched a 10-day tour of the former Cold War foes.

The pontiff’s surprisingly direct call for progress toward normalisation came after weeks of Vatican assurances he would not explicitly address politics during his pastoral trip to Cuba and the US. Pope Francis served as mediator and guarantor of 18 months of secret talks that led to the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries this year.