Patriarch Kirill congratulates Fidel Castro on 85th birthday

MOSCOW (Itar-Tass) - Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
Kirill congratulated Cuba's former leader Fidel Castro upon his 85th
birthday marked on Saturday.
"The Russian Orthodox Church will always with words of gratitude
recall your personal contribution to the construction of the Russian
cathedral in Havana and your sincere care you'd taken of the community of
our compatriots," Patriarch Kirill said in his congratulatory message.
In 2008, being a metropolitan, he consecrated the first Orthodox
cathedral in the Caribbean and met with Fidel Castro.
The Russian Orthodox Cathedral is located in the historical centre of
the Cuban capital. The construction project was designed by Russian
architect Rostislav Vorontsov, while finishing touches were made by his
Cuban counterpart Oscar Jaime Rodriguez. The cathedral occupies the area
of 1,500 square meters.
Cuba's Orthodox community exceeds 2,000. The overwhelming majority is
immigrants from the former Soviet Union who are permanently residing on
the island as well as diplomats and specialists.
The country's traditional religion is Catholicism.