Pope Benedict XVI is known to have a special place in his heart for young people. Following his meeting with government officials, he delivered an address to young people gathered on the square in front of the Maronite Patriarchate at Bkerke. Published below is a copy of his official text. Your Beatitude, Brother Bishops, Dear ...read more

On Day 2 of Pope Benedict’s trip to Lebanon, he met with members of the government, institutions of the Republic, the diplomatic corps, religious leaders and representatives of the world of culture. The meeting took place inside the Presidential Palace at Baabda. Below, you will find a copy of his address. Mr President, Dear Friends, ...read more

Today the Pope landed in Lebanon to release his highly-anticipated message about the Christians of the Middle East. Why are the Christians struggling? And how can the Pope help them? On Catholic Focus, we interview the Patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church and an Armenian Orthodox peace activist. We ask them what they expect the ...read more

In a continuing series of his events in Lebanon today, Pope Benedict visited St. Paul’s Melkite Greek Basilica in Harissa and signed the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Medio Oriente. This stems from a special Synod of Bishops in the Middle East that took place at the Vatican in 2010. Below is a copy of ...read more

After many preparations ahead of Pope Benedict’s trip to Lebanon, he has finally arrived. Today marks the beginning of his three-day pastoral visit to Lebanon. Below, you will find a copy of his speech that he delivered, upon arrival at Beirut’s Rafiq Hariri International Airport. Mr President, It is my honour to accept your invitation, ...read more

Salt + Light Television is proud to bring you live daily coverage of Pope Benedict XVI’s apostolic visit to Lebanon from September 14-16. On his fourth trip to the Middle East as Pope, he will present the conclusions from the 2010 Synod of Bishops on the Middle East. This will be his first trip to ...read more

The Lebanese government and the Lebanese Bishop’s conference announced today that Pope Benedict will visit the country September 14 to 16. During the visit the Holy Father will celebrate Mass in Beirut, the nation’s capital, and hand over to the bishops of the Middle East his post-synodal exhortation for the Middle East. In October 2010 ...read more

During his visit to Cuba last week Pope Benedict XVI met with Cuban President Raul Castro. During that visit the Holy Father made one request: that Good Friday be considered a public holiday in that country. A communique from Cuba’s state-run news service Granma published on Saturday, said Raul Castro had informed Pope Benedict his request ...read more

The fruits of a papal visit are often not noticeable until after the banners and altars have come down.  In Cuba it didn’t take long to see the gifts of the papal visit. Catholic News Service reported this week on the impact the Pope’s overnight stay in El Cobre. The preparations alone meant that infrastructure ...read more

This evening, Pope Benedict XVI said farewell to Cuba at José Martí International Airport, Havana, Cuba as he concluded his 6 day apostolic visit to Mexico and Cuba. Find the full text of the Holy Father’s farewell address below. I thank God for allowing me to visit this beautiful Isle which left so deep a mark ...read more