Though Pope Francis' historic meeting with Fidel Castro and his brother Raul on Sunday went off without a hitch, a number of Cuban dissidents have complained that they were denied a meeting with the pope despite them having invitations for the two services celebrated by the pontiff, as well as a personal meet-and-greet, according to Fox News.
According to the head of the opposition group Ladies in White, 22 out of 24 members of the group were not able to attend Sunday's mass in Havana's main plaza due to Cuban security agents denying them access to the area.
Marta Beatriz Roque and Miriam Leiva, prominent dissidents in the country, said they were arrested as they travelled to the cathedral where the masses were taking place. This was despite them receiving invitations from the office of the papal ambassador in Havana, reports Newser.
"They told me that I didn't have a credential and that I couldn't go to the pope's event that was taking place there in the Plaza of the Cathedral," Roque said.
The Vatican, however, said that no official meeting had been planned with the Cuban dissidents. Father Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, however, did say that the Vatican embassy in Havana did initiate a number of calls to some of the dissident leaders "as a sign of attention to these people."
He also said that the Vatican is not really sure why the dissidents were prevented from meeting with the pontiff.
