BERTONE

HAVANA (AP):

The Vatican's secretary of state said yesterday he hoped his visit to Cuba could give ''a new push'' to sometimes-strained relations between the communist government and the island's Roman Catholic Church.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's No. 2 official, arrived late Wednesday on a trip commemorating the 10-year anniversary of Pope John Paul II's visit to Cuba. In an address to 15 assembled Cuban bishops, he said current Pope Benedict XVI ''knows the situation of the Cuban Church well, carries it in his heart and has it very present in his prayers'.

''I harbour the hope that this celebration of the anniversary of the visit by Pope John Paul II to this blessed land contributes to giving a new push to relations between the State and the Catholic Church of Cuba,'' Bertone said. ''So that, in the spirit of respect and mutual understanding, the Church can perform with necessary freedom its strictly pastoral mission and be at the service of its faithful.''

The meeting was closed to international reporters, but the Vatican's press office released the text of his speech.