The Holy Father’s address given today at Antonio Maceo International Airport, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. Below find the full text of Pope Benedict’s arrival address. Thank you, Mr President, for your welcome and your kind words, with which you also conveyed the sentiments of respect of the Cuban government and people for the Successor of ...read more

Today Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass for more than 600 000 Mexican faithful gathered at the Parque del Bicentenario (Bicentennial Park), at the foot of Cerro del Cubilete (Beaker Hill). Resting atop Cerro del Cubilete (Beaker Hill) is a statue of Cristo Rey (Christ the King), a tribute to the martyrs of the Cristero War. Below is a clip of ...read more

By Patricia Zapor Catholic News Service HAVANA (CNS) — The Catholic Church that Pope Benedict XVI will visit March 26-28 is, to put it simply, more. Since Pope John Paul II’s visit in 1998, the church is more unified, more public, more likely to work with the government in accomplishing specific goals, more involved in ...read more

S+L’s Alicia Ambrosio had the opportunity to speak with Vatican spokesperson Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ yesterday. Despite his busy schedule, Fr. Lombardi took the time to share some experiences about his time in Benin. He also shared a remarkable story about a little girl the Pope met. You can watch their full interview, via phone, ...read more

Since John Paul II, the pope has been in the spotlight of news media. But unlike his predecessor, Benedict XVI is not very easy for journalists to cover, as demonstrated by his recent four-day trip to Germany. ...read more

The Homily of the Holy Father at Holy Mass in Freiburg: Dear Brothers and Sisters, It is moving for me to be here once again to celebrate this Eucharist, this Thanksgiving, with so many people from different parts of Germany and the neighbouring countries.  We offer our thanks above all to God, in whom we ...read more

Today Pope Benedict XVI met with the Council of the Central Committee of German Catholics: Dear Brothers and Sisters, I am grateful for this opportunity to come together, here in Freiburg, with you, the Council Members of the Central Committee for German Catholics (ZdK). I gladly express to you my appreciation for your work in ...read more

Following his speech at the German lower parliamentarians, Pope Benedict XVI  met with Representatives of the Jewish Community. The Holy Father remembered the Shoah: “Today, I find myself in a central place of remembrance, the appalling remembrance that it was from here that the Shoah, the annihilation of our Jewish fellow citizens in Europe, was ...read more

Today, Thursday, September 22, Pope Benedict began his first State Visit to Germany with a visit to the Bundestag, the lower house of Parliament. This is the third time that a Pope addresses a Federal Parliament: Pope John Paul II addressed the Parliaments in Warsaw and in Rome. The Holy Father reminds German politicians that ...read more

This weekend, Pope Benedict XVI will make his first trip to Croatia as the successor of Peter. However, as Holy See Press Office director Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, points out, it’s not his first visit to the strongly Catholic country. The Vatican spokesman offered an editorial previewing the trip on the Vatican Television program Octava ...read more