Monday, January 25, 1999; 5:52 p.m. EST

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Bishops from North and South America will take up Pope John Paul II's call for greater regional unity at a conference in Cuba on Feb. 14-16, a Cuban cardinal said Monday.

The Latin American Episcopal Conference will study how to implement the pope's call for a vigorous evangelization by the church, Havana Archbishop Jaime Ortega Alamino said.

U.S. and Canadian bishops also plan to attend, he said.

John Paul, who concludes a five-day visit to Mexico on Tuesday, signed a document Saturday outlining church strategy in the Americas in the third millennium. That strategy included a more evangelical Roman Catholic church.

The pope paid his first visit to Cuba last January, urging the communist nation's leaders to ease restrictions on worship. Cuba's government once expelled foreign priests from the island and closed Catholic schools.

Ortega said the pope's trip had strengthened the church's presence in Cuba.

``For some observers, the fruit (of the papal visit to Cuba) may be modest,'' Ortega said. ``For the church that lives in Cuba, the fruits have been very significant.''