Below are the Holy Father’s homilies and addresses during his visit to Cuba. Please check back here to read them soon after they are delivered:

March 28 - The Holy Father’s farewell address at Havana airport:

Mr President,
Your Eminences, my Brother Bishops,
Distinguished Authorities,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends,

I thank God for allowing me to visit this beautiful Isle which left so deep a mark on the heart of my beloved predecessor, Blessed John Paul II, when he came to these lands as a herald of truth and hope. I too greatly have wished to come among you as a pilgrim of charity, in order to thank the Virgin Mary for the presence of her venerable statue of the Sanctuary of El...READ MORE

Mr President,
Distinguished Authorities,
Your Eminences,
Dear Brother Bishops,
Dear Mexican friends,

My brief but intense visit to Mexico is now coming to an end. Yet this is not the end of my affection and my closeness to a country so very dear to me. I leave full of unforgettable experiences, not the least of which are the innumerable courtesies and signs of affection which I have received. With all my heart I thank the President for his kind words to me, and for all that the authorities have done for this memorable Journey. And I thank the many people who have helped, even in the smallest details, to make the events of these days go smoothly. I beg the Lord that all these efforts may...READ MORE

Yesterday evening, the Holy Father delivered this homily at Vespers in León cathedral. Below it is an address by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, given at a dinner after Vespers in honor of Mexico’s bishops and visiting bishops. Also present at the dinner was Mexico’s President, Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa.

Your Eminences,
Dear Brother Bishops,

It gives me great joy to be able to pray with all of you in this Basilica-Cathedral of León, dedicated to our Lady of Light. In the lovely painting venerated in this basilica, the Blessed Virgin holds her Son in one hand with immense tenderness while extending her other hand to succour sinners. This is how the Church in...READ MORE

Pope Benedict XVI is celebrating his first open-air Mass of this visit at the Bicentennial Park in Guanajuato. Concelebrating with the Holy Father are 250 cardinals and bishops of Mexico, presidents of the 22 Episcopal Conferences of Latin America and the Caribbean, other bishops from Latin America and around 3,000 priests. Full text of his homily:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am very pleased to be among you today and I express my sincere gratitude to the Most Reverend José Guadalupe Martín Rábago, Archbishop of León, for his kind words of welcome. I greet the Mexican Bishops, and the Cardinals and other Bishops present here, and in a special way those who have come from Latin America and...READ MORE

From the balcony of the central presidential palace, the Holy Father greeted young people gathered in Plaza de la Paz, Guanajuato, Mexico, yesterday evening.

Dear Young People,

I am happy to be able to meet with you and to see your smiling faces as you fill this beautiful square. You have a very special place in the Pope’s heart. And in these moments, I would like all the children of Mexico to know this, especially those who have to bear the burden of suffering, abandonment, violence or hunger, which in recent months, because of drought, has made itself strongly felt in some regions. I am grateful for this encounter of faith, and for the festive and joyful presence expressed in song. Today...READ MORE

Pope Benedict XVI has arrived in Guanajuato, Mexico, his first stop on a six day tour that will also take him to Cuba.

Speaking to journalists on the papal plane, the Holy Father stressed the Church “is not a political power, not a party, but a moral reality, a moral power.” Read more details on his airborne press conference from Vatican Radio here.

At the welcoming ceremony at Guanajuato airport, the Pope stressed the importance of the fundamental right to religious freedom (full text below). Check back here for more of Benedict XVI’s addresses and homilies on this, the 23rd apostolic voyage outside Italy of his pontificate.

Mister President,
Your Eminences,
Dear Brother Bishops and...READ MORE

In an important news day from the Vatican today, Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Conn., has been named as the new Archbishop of Baltimore. He replaces Cardinal Edwin O’Brien who last week took up his new post here in Rome as Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

Bishop Lori was one of three appointments to U.S. dioceses announced today:

* Msgr. David Malloy, until now a priest of the diocese of Milwaukee and a former general secretary of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, has been appointed Bishop of Rockford, Ill., replacing Bishop Thomas Doran.
* Fr. Gregory Parkes, who has been serving as Chancellor and Vicar General of the...READ MORE

At one time, you couldn’t get a more staunchly Catholic government than Ireland’s. But last November it surprised many by deciding to close its embassy to the Holy See in Rome, ostensibly for economic reasons, though the underlying motives appear more political and ideological.

Now a grassroots campaign is hoping to overturn the decision, and it’s proving to be considerably successful. Called “Ireland Stand Up” , the movement is calling on the Irish Government to re-open its embassy to the Holy See, reinstate its resident ambassador, and invite Pope Benedict XVI to visit their country. The movement received the backing of the Holy Father who, in a letter sent in January, said he “very much...READ MORE