Paul Haven, AP

HAVANA (AP) — The spiritual leader of the world's Roman Catholics and the brothers who have carried Cuba along an increasingly solitary Communist path mixed warm smiles with the hard language of their respective camps during Pope Benedict XVI's three-day tour of Cuba.

Often, the polite octogenarians at the heart of this religio-political drama appeared to be talking past each other, the pontiff using biblical parables about cruel, long-dead kings, the Castros their customary language of revolution and defiance to American dominance.

In his respectful send-off, President Raul Castro acknowledged in the visit's greatest understatement: "We do not think alike on all matters."...