The Communist party in Cuba is proposing to reinstate Christmas permanently as an official holiday.

The Cuban Council of State, headed by President Fidel Castro, is expected to ratify a proposal by the party politburo to recognise the twenty-fifth of December as a national holiday for Christian believers and non-believers alike.

In 1997, Cuban workers were given a day off at Christmas for the first time in three decades, prior to a visit by Pope John Paul the Second.

During the pope's visit, President Castro -- who was himself educated at a Jesuit school -- promised greater freedom of worship on the island.

The Communist party statement insisted that it has never been opposed to religion, although it did admit to some discrimination against religious believers joining the party.