Pope Francis has considered the possibility of visiting Cuba in September – before or after his trip to the United States – but discussions with Cuban authorities are so preliminary that the idea cannot be considered more than a hypothesis, the Vatican said.

Although the Vatican has not announced a full itinerary for the pope’s trip to the U.S., it has confirmed appointments in Washington, New York and Philadelphia, Sept. 23-27.

Simply considering visiting the U.S. and Cuba on the same trip abroad signals Pope Francis’ continuing interest in encouraging the normalization of relations between them.