In Cuba, excitement is building for Pope Francis’s visit from September 19th through the 22nd, just before he heads to the US. Hundreds of singers and musicians held rehearsals for a massive open-air mass that Francis will celebrate in Havana’s Revolution Square. Francis will be the third pope to visit the communist country. Relations between Cuba and the Vatican have significantly improved since the end of the Cold War, most notably with John Paul II’s visit in 1998 and Benedict’s visit in 2012.