Cuban President Fidel Castro planned to meet with the island's Roman Catholic hierarchy for the first time in 12 years late Thursday in another sign of improving church-state relations on the eve of Pope John Paul II's visit.

Cardinal Jaime Ortega headed the church delegation that included the bishops of Santiago, Camaguey and Cienfuegos, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alejandro Gonzalez told foreign journalists.

Results of the session were not expected until today, but church officials were known to be anxious to lobby Castro on their request for access to Cuba's government-run media, to spread the news of the papal visit.

Castro's failure to meet with local Catholic leaders, while meeting with several domestic and foreign Protestant and Evangelical groups, had helped fuel past tensions in church-state relations.

Gonzalez also said the government has not yet decided on visas for foreign church leaders who want to go to Cuba for the pontiff's Jan. 21-25 visit. Cuba has reportedly put Nicaraguan Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo and three other well known anti-communist priests on a ``not welcome'' list.

``There are no blacklists, no white lists, no list of any color. Everything is awaiting a decision,'' Gonzalez said.

Asked whether Castro's declaration of Christmas Day as a holiday for the first time in 29 years would allow Catholics to put Christmas decorations in public places -- long a taboo -- Gonzalez appeared to say that Cubans are likely to do it, with or without permission.

``There is Christmas. There are decorations,'' he said.

In other developments connected to the papal visit, the first of two ``popemobiles'' that John Paul will use arrived in Cuba on Thursday aboard a military plane from Venezuela. The second is expected next week from Canada.

And the Labor Ministry issued a communique listing which categories of workers must work on Christmas Day because of overriding economic or public health interests. They will get double pay or a day off later.

Required to work will be everyone involved in the sugar harvest, public transport, hospitals and pharmacies, gas stations, hotels, radio and TV transmissions, communications, restaurants, and tourist attractions, funeral parlors, fresh milk dispensaries, entertainers and ``others.''