Despite an invitation from the Catholic Church, Gloria Estefan has declined to perform for Pope John Paul II in Cuba next month.|

Emilio Estefan, Gloria's husband and manager, said they will never perform in their homeland of Cuba as long as Fidel Castro's Communist regime is in power. "The day Gloria sings in Cuba, she will do so because Cuba is free," he told Agence France-Presse last week.

The papal visit to the island nation is an historic event because Cuba is the only Spanish-speaking country in Latin America the Pope has not visited while he has sat at the helm of the Roman Catholic church. (Ari Bendersky)