Living up to his papal name taken from a Catholic saint known for being a peace advocate, Pope Francis wrote two separate personal letters to U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro. These two letters opened for the door for Washington and Havana to open diplomatic ties, a first in 53 years.

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In a third letter to the two leaders on Wednesday, the pontiff congratulated Obama and Castro for the milestone and invited them to "resolve humanitarian questions of common interest, including the situation of certain prisoners."

The announcement of diplomatic ties on Wednesday was preceded by representatives of the two neighbors meeting in October, facilitated by Pope Francis. On the same day, Cuba freed American captive Alan Gross, reports USA Today.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church was the only foreign leader who was directly involved in the talks. It helped that Pope Francis, when he was still known as Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, he was part of the Episcopal Conferences of Latin America which had been supporting to restore diplomatic ties between Washington and Havana.

When Fidel Castro became the leader of Cuba in early 1960s, he closed Catholic schools in the country and jailed many priests and nuns or exiled them. He then declared Cuba as an atheist state, but after three decades, he changed it to secular and became friendlier to the Catholic Church after he visited Vatican in 1996, followed by Pope Paul II going on a five-day pilgrimage to Cuba to bless a stone for a new seminary to be built since Castro seized power.

About 59 percent of Cuba's 11 million population are Christians, with majority of them Catholics.

The Wednesday announcement doesn't end Pope Francis's role. The Vatican said in a statement, "The Holy See will continue to assure its support for initiatives which both nations will undertake to strengthen their bilateral relations and promote the well-being of their respective citizens."

Fr. Manuel Dorantes, a spokesman of Vatican based in Chicago, added, quoted by Huffington Post, "Christ called the church to be present in society. That's exactly what the Holy Father is doing. He tried it with Israel and Palestine, now he's doing it with Obama and Castro."

TagsPope Francis, Cuba, U.S., diplomatic relations, Barack Obama, President Raul Castro