Pope Benedict To Visit Cuba, Mexico Next Year

By Alessandro Speciale
Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI confirmed on Monday (Dec. 12) that he will travel to Cuba and Mexico next year.

"Supported by divine Providence, I have the intention to make an apostolic trip to Mexico and Cuba before Easter," he said at the end of his homily during a special Mass in St. Peter's Basilica to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the independence of Latin American countries.

According to reports in South American news outlets, the visit will occur March 23-29.

The Vatican's chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the trip would coincide with the 400th anniversary of the image of the Virgin of Charity, the patroness of Cuba.

Lombardi had also warned that the pope would not travel to Mexico City as the city's high altitude made it an "inadvisable" destination for the 84-year-old pope.

Benedict said he hoped his trip would contribute to the construction of a society "rooted in the development of the common good, the triumph of love and the spread of justice."

After a historic visit by the late Pope John Paul II in 1998, relations between the Vatican and Cuba's communist regime have improved in recent years. This year church officials helped secure the release of 115 political prisoners who left Cuba to go into exile in Spain.

The Vatican ambassador to Cuba, Monsignor Giovanni Angelo Becciu, a key figure in Vatican dialogue with the Castro regime, was promoted last May to the No. 2 position in the Vatican's Secretariate of State.

Please click through the slideshow to see the different countries that the Pope has travelled to:

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• Germany I (Aug. 18 - 21, 2005)

  Pope Benedict XVI gestures on the boat in front of the Cologne Cathedral during his trip on Rhein River on August 18, 2005 in Cologne, Germany. Pope Benedict XVI is in his native Germany for a four-day visit to celebrate the XX World Youth Day during his first travel outside Italy as the pope. (Photo by L'Osservatore Romano-Vatican Pool/Getty Images)

• Poland (May 25 - 28, 2006)

  Oswiecim, POLAND: Pope Benedict XVI visits the Auschwitz camp 28 May 2006, in Oswiecim. Pope Benedict XVI ends Sunday his pilgrimage to Poland with an emotional and significant visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest death camp set up by the Nazis on Polish territory. (VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images)

• Spain I (July 8 - 9, 2006)

  Valencia, SPAIN: Pope Benedict XVI (C) walks toward the altar to give mass in Valencia, 09 July 2006. Organisers said they expected more than a million people to attend the open-air mass, the culmination of a two-day visit designed to galvanize Church opposition to what Benedict called the 'rapid secularisation' of the former bastion of Catholicism. (JOSE JORDAN/AFP/Getty Images)

• Germany II (Sept. 9 - 14, 2006)

  MUNICH, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 10: Pope Benedict XVI greets believers who are waiting for his arrival in front of the Cathedral Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche) on September 10, 2006 in Munich, Germany. The Bavarian capital Munich is one of the most important stations in the life of Joseph Ratzinger, the priest, archbishop and cardinal, who was elected pope on April 19, 2005. Born on April 16, 1927 in Marktl am Inn in the diocese of Passau, Ratzinger grew up within the borders of the archbishopric of Munich and Freising, where he later served as archbishop from 1977 - 1982. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

• Turkey (Nov. 28 - Dec. 1, 2006)

  Istanbul, Turkey: Pope Benedict XVI speaks with Mustafa Cagrici, mufti of Istanbul, as he visits the Blue Mosque ,30 November 2006. Benedict XVI, only the second pope in history -- after John Paul II in Damascus in 2001 -- to set foot in a Muslim house of worship, turned towards Mecca. (OSSERVATORE ROMANO ARTURO MARI/AFP/Getty Images)

• Brazil (May 9 - 13, 2007)

  APARECIDA DO NORTE, BRAZIL: Pope Benedict XVI celebrates an open-air mass in the vast explanade of the Aparecida basilica, in Aparecida, some 180 km from Sao Paulo, 13 May 2007. Pope Benedict XVI later will open a major bishops' conference as part of the Catholic Church's effort to extend its missionary reach in Latin America. (OSSERVATORE ROMANO / ARTURO MARI/AFP/Getty Images)

• Austria (Sept. 7 - 9, 2007)

  VIENNA, AUSTRIA - SEPTEMBER 07: Pope Benedict XVI. (L) and Austrian President Heinz Fischer attend a meeting of high representatives of the Republic of Austria in the Imperial Hofburg Castle in the late afternoon of the Pope's first day of his visit to Austria on September 7, 2007 in Vienna, Austria. On Saturday the 8th September the Pope celebrates a holy mass at the place of pilgrimage Mariazell. The Apostolic journey is his first visit to Austria since his nomination as Pope. (Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images)

• United States (April 15-20, 2008)

  George W. Bush shakes hands with Pope Benedict XVI on his arrival to the White House.

• Australia (July 13-21, 2008)

  SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JULY 17: The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI addresses the Pilgrim Crowd at the Papal Welcome Ceremony at Barangaroo, on Sydney Harbour on July 17, 2008 in Sydney, Australia. Organised every two to three years by the Catholic Church, World Youth Day (WYD) is an invitation from the Pope to the youth of the world to celebrate their faith. The celebration, being held in Sydney from July 15 to July 20, 2008, will mark the first visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to Australia. (Photo by Kristian Dowling/Getty Images)

• France (Sept. 12 - 15, 2008)

  LOURDES, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 14: Pope Benedict XVI gives communion to a pilgrim during Holy Mass in the open air, September 14, 2008 in Lourdes, France. The four day trip by the Pope to Paris and Lourdes is seen as an attempt to reinvigorate Catholicism in France. (Photo by Pascal Parrot/Getty Images)

• Cameroon and Angola (Mar. 17 - 23, 2009)

  Pope Benedict XVI (R) greets Angolan local dancers on March 21, 2009 at the 'Stadio dos Coqueiros' in Luanda, duirng the Pope's meeting with the Angolan youth. After visiting Cameroon, Pope Benedict XVI is in Angola for the second length of the first african trip of his pontificate. (GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/Getty Images)

• Jordan, Israel and Palestinian Territories (May 8 - 15, 2009)

  NAZARETH, ISRAEL - MAY 14: Pope Benedict XVI holds a mass at the Church of the Annunciation, believed to stand at the site of Mary's house where angel Gabriel appeared and announced that she would give birth to Jesus Christ on May 14, 2009 in Nazareth, northern Israel. The Pontiff is nearing the end of his eight-day pilgrimage to the Holy sites in Jordan, Israel and the West Bank. (Photo by Jonathan Nackstrand/Getty Images)

• Czech Republic (Sept. 26 - 28, 2009)

  Pope Benedict XVI kneels in front of the Holy Child at the Our Lady Victorious church in Prague on September 26, 2009. Pope Benedict XVI hailed the fall of 'oppressive regimes' in eastern Europe as he landed in Prague Saturday for a three-day visit, his second to eastern Europe. The trip by the head of the Roman Catholic Church comes shortly before the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, a peaceful coup that toppled Communist rule in former Czechoslovakia in 1989. (Max ROSSI/AFP/Getty Images)

• Malta (April 17 - 18, 2010)

  Pope Benedict XVI (L) stands on a boat next to Vatican State Secretary Tarcisio Bertone during a trip from Kalkara ferry to the Valletta waterfront on April 18, 2010. Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday expressed his personal 'shame and sorrow' to victims of paedophile priests at a surprise meeting during a visit to Malta. (ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images)

• Portugal (May 11 - 14, 2010)

  Pope Benedict XVI prays in front of the Madonna statue in Fatima, on May 12, 2010. Pope Benedict XVI arrived today at Fatima, one of Christianity's most popular shrines, cheered by tens of thousands of flag-waving pilgrims. Benedict, the third pope to visit Fatima, toured the shrine's vast esplanade, which turned into a sea of colour as the huge crowd waved yellow and white Vatican flags and hats, as well as the red and green of Portugal. (VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images)

• Cyprus (June 4 - 6, 2010)

  Pope Benedict XVI leaves following a mass at the Eleftheria Sports Centre in Nicosia on June 6, 2010 on the third and final day of the pontiff's visit to the mostly Greek Orthodox Mediterranean island. (MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images)

• United Kingdom (Sept. 16 - 19, 2010)

  EDINBURGH, UNITED KINGDOM - SEPTEMBER 16: Queen Elizabeth II and Pope Benedict XVI (L) chat in the gardens at the Palace of Holyroodhouse during day one of his four day state visit to the United Kingdom at Holyrood House on September 16, 2010 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Pope Benedict XVI is conducting the first state visit to the UK by a Pontiff. During the four day visit Pope Benedict will celebrate mass, conduct a prayer vigil as well as beatify Cardinal Newman at an open air mass in Cofton Park . His Holiness will meet The Queen as well as political and religious representatives. (Photo by Dylan Martinez - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

• Spain II (Nov. 6 - 7, 2010)

  SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, SPAIN - NOVEMBER 06: Prince Felipe of Spain (2L) and Princess Letizia of Spain (C) attend an open-air mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI in front of Santiago de Compostela Cathedral on Obradoiro square on November 6, 2010 in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. The Pope is on a two-day visit to Spain. (Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)

• Croatia (June 4 - 5, 2011)

  Pope Benedict XVI (C) is helped by assistants at the end of an open air gathering in central Zagreb on June 4, 2011. Pope Benedict XVI set off for Croatia on June 4 for a two-day visit aimed at reaffirming Christian values that he believes are under threat in increasingly secular societies across Europe. (VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images)

• San Marino (June 19, 2011)

  Pope Benedict XVI (C) is greeted by two Captain Regents (R), leaders of the Republic of San Marino, as he arrives at the 'Public Palace' and Government House, during his one-day visit to San Marino state, on June 19, 2011. The pope is paying his first visit to San Marino, the world's oldest sovereign state nestled on the eastern slopes of Italy's Appenine Mountains. (ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Images)

• Spain III (Aug. 18 - 21, 2011)

  MADRID, SPAIN - AUGUST 19: Pope Benedict XVI waves from the Popemobile at Cibeles square during a via crucis during World Youth Day 2011 celebrations on August 19, 2011 in Madrid, Spain. Initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985, World Youth Day youth-oriented events for the celebration of the Catholic faith are held every three years in a different country; this time in Madrid from August 16th to 21st, with Pope Benedict XVI in attendance. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

• Germany III (Sept. 22 - 25, 2011)

  ERFURT, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 24: Pope Benedict XVI arrives to lead morning mass at Domplatz square in front of the Erfurter Dom cathedral on September 24, 2011 in Erfurt, Germany. The Pope later lead morning mass for tens of thosands of assembled pilgrims. The Pope is in Erfurt on the thrid of a four-day visit to Germany. (Photo by Carsten Koall/Getty Images)

• Benin (Nov. 18-Nov. 20, 2011)

  Pope Benedict XVI waves to the Catholic faithful as he departs following Sunday Mass, at the national stadium in Cotonou, Benin Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011. On Sunday at Cotonou's soccer stadium, Benedict presided over an open-air mass that drew thousands. During the mass, he ceremoniously handed over a detailed pastoral guide which articulates his spiritual vision for Africa.(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

• Mexico and Cuba (Mar. 23-Mar 29, 2012)

  In this file photo taken on March 25, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI waves from the popemobile wearing a Mexican sombrero as he arrives to give a Mass in Bicentennial Park near Silao, Mexico. Turin's La Stampa newspaper reported Thursday, Feb. 14, 2014, that Benedict hit his head and bled when he got up in the middle of the night in an unfamiliar bedroom in Leon, Mexico. The report said blood stained his hair, pillow and floor. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi confirmed the incident but said "it was not relevant for the trip, in that it didn't affect it, nor in the decision" to resign. (AP Photo/Osservatore Romano)

• Lebanon (Sept. 14-16, 2012)

  Lebanon’s Christian Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai (L) greets Pope Benedict XVI before celebrating an open-air mass in Beirut's waterfront on September 16, 2012, on the final day of his visit to Lebanon. Pope prayed that leaders in the Middle East work toward peace and reconciliation, in his homily at an open-air mass where an estimated 350,000 people attend. AFP PHOTO/FILIPPO MONTEFORTE

Comments

[shatner99]

02:52 PM on 12/19/2011

don't use condoms, fear secularism, don't practice witchcraft, and, oh, yeah, I need to speak privately with little Timmy. I want to know his preference for weapons on Halo.

[ThinkCreeps]

05:31 PM on 12/17/2011

Gosh. Will there be time and money to tailor all those new outfits?
Especially with the price of gold being as high as it is.

[ThinkCreeps]

11:34 AM on 12/16/2011

Singalong now:

Springtime, in Cuba, for Ratzinger...

[alterego55]

09:08 PM on 12/14/2011

Hide the young children!

[alterego55]

08:38 PM on 12/14/2011

Why do Christian pastors, ministers and priests get more legal rights than the average citizen?

[PeterinSydney]

06:01 AM on 12/14/2011

He is looking very old. So now is the time the manipulators will take over the Vatican I bet.

[ThinkCreeps]

06:07 PM on 12/14/2011

He is very old. On the happy day that Ratzinger dies, they'll start to find a similarly unsavory character to replace him.

[lobstur]

05:47 AM on 12/14/2011

His mannerisms, his garb, his royalty, his jewels: this man is an Idol. the an idol that Yahweh warned us about. He would be charming, he would have many believers, he would dress in silks, robes, and have many, many servants. He would hold a place of high power, and high influence. And he would feel this was his rightful position.

The Pope is the Anti-Christ. Not Satan, but the Anti-Christ, as in, everything Christ was not, everything Christ disapproved of.

[RedIvan88]

03:51 PM on 12/14/2011

Yep, Pope Benedict is the first pope to have silk and jewels and have servants. After 800 years of a monarchistic papacy, he's the first. So out of all the horrible popes who ever lived, like Rodrigo Borgia, Pope Benedict is the anti-Christ. Come one dude....

The pope has all the rightful authority as the successor to Peter the Apostle to preside over the the Roman Catholic Church.

[ThinkCreeps]

07:00 PM on 12/14/2011

He's the first one who when confronted with absolutely damning evidence of his organizations systematic abuse has actively done nothing about it. His predecessors might have been able to claim ignorance, but not ratzinger - he's culpable.

In the exceptionally unlikely event that the recently dead ratzinger meets peter on a cloud someday, I trust he'll be able to look him in the eye and tell him how well everything's been going.

[jaabirllx]

09:03 PM on 12/15/2011

For the last five hundred years, Protestants have been saying the same silly things about popes and the papacy, things which drove many evangelicals over the past 30 years towards the Church. Far from feeling that it's their "rightful position", most shed tears, like St. Pius X, and endure it, as Pius XII did, whom the Nazis vowed to hang (contrary to all the lies that have been spread about him in recent decades), and who experienced the office as pure suffering.

[RedIvan88]

03:47 PM on 12/14/2011

Would you give this bigotry a rest already?

The Pope is in no way the leader of some crime syndicate. Guess you forgot the millions the Roman Catholic Church feeds, clothes, and shelters every year. Sounds like a bunch of criminals to me.

Did you really just compare Pope Benedict to Idi Amin or Saddam? Wow. Can't believe the Huffington Post allows this filth to be posted. Last time I checked, Pope Benedict never ordered the genocide of the Kurds via chemical weapons or imprisoned and murdered tens of thousands of political dissidents due to paranoia.

Oh the Cubans are going to arrest him huh? On what charges? Lol, the only thing the Cubans are going to do is march him into Castro's chambers and have him give that weak, bitter old man the Last Rites.

Your comments are not based in fact but in hatred for Catholics and the Catholic Church.

[A-Superstitionist]

06:16 PM on 12/13/2011

I hope Cuba keeps him there. Guantanamo Bay is still open and there is plenty of room and board for Benny Hex.

[Robert Frano]

04:59 PM on 12/13/2011

Re: "The Vatican's chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the trip would coincide with the 400th anniversary of the image of the Virgin of Charity, the patroness of Cuba..."

2 thoughts:
A.) Does the I.C.C have an office / attache / diplomatic-relations in/with Havana?

B.) This pope has stated he intends to attempt maintainence of his 'shrinking-believer-base' by
'expanding/exploiting' the 3rd. world...
Has Mr. Ratzinger forgotten what a splendid show he & his 'L.B.D.-clad' associates put on in Boston & Ireland, etc.?
Child-sexual-exploitation/abuse/STD-transmittal DOESN'T fit in-well with the southern hemisphere's various cultures...

Since he probably WON'T live to see a 'human-colony' on either the Moon or Mars, where, precisely, does he imagine/intend to 'expand-to' after Cuba & the southern hemisphere's continents kick his horny-cleric's asses out?

[Jereth James]

02:09 PM on 12/13/2011

Hide yo kids, Hide yo money, cause dey be raping errybody out there. dont waste your time going to see this Lying coverup con artist.

[richdibo]

08:48 PM on 12/13/2011

So much for "Supported by divine Providence".

[AntithiChrist]

12:06 AM on 12/14/2011

Has the lightning struck you yet? Me either.

[ThinkCreeps]

04:35 AM on 12/14/2011

I can smell sulfur, but I think that's just Ratzinger.

[yearzola]

12:09 PM on 12/13/2011

Please skip Mexico, we only cherish the memory of San Pablo II, he showed the hole world that he cared for all people no matter their country or their religion. When you looked into him you could see the love and compassion and his loving soul.

in Benedict's eyes the only thing to be seen is greed and hate.

[Fran Jaime]

02:53 AM on 12/17/2011

I agree with the "please skip Mexico", however, I never understood the fascination with the previous pope. He also covered up the pedophiles, you know? (I live in Mexico btw).

[arthur-in-miami]

11:55 AM on 12/13/2011

Another brilliant move by the most unpopular Pope in modern history - go to a land that does not allow religion - Cuba - and what will he accomplish there - while I appreciate his visit to Mexico I just cannot understand why he would choose to visit Cuba where religion in general is frowned upon and after he leave his followers may be punished. Why does this Pope feel compelled to cause grief when he travels. I was in Whales when he arrived. The Queen had a speech rolled up in her hand to make, after the Pope spoke about his time with the 3rd reich, she gave him a gift and departed the stage without further welcome. He is a reaqson the Church should call for term limits on a Pope.

[Ami Toben]

09:31 AM on 12/13/2011

"Benedict said he hoped his trip would contribute to the construction of a society "rooted in the development of the common good, the triumph of love and the spread of justice."
When has any pope, or the entire Catholic church for that matter, EVER produce such a result?

[ThinkCreeps]

10:03 AM on 12/13/2011

That's an interesting way of saying `Ker-ching. Thank you, fleeced people. Are you sure you have nothing left to give me?'

[RedIvan88]

10:58 AM on 12/13/2011

Hey at least they're trying. I've haven't seen Dawkins or Hitchens lift a finger to help their fellow man.

[turfkiller]

11:14 AM on 12/13/2011

Your argument is no different than those that would condemn the church for the actions of some priests.

[Ami Toben]

12:22 PM on 12/13/2011

You must have missed how much both Dawkins and Hitchens promote various charity and relief organizations along the years.

[BurtonDesque]

06:07 AM on 12/13/2011

I suppose Benny the Rat has to be careful not to go places where he might get arrested for his part in the RCC's organized pedophilia operation.

[RedIvan88]

10:57 AM on 12/13/2011

Benny the Rat? He's dedicated his life to service and charity, not to mention the ruler of a sovereign state.

You might not agree with him on man issues, but try to have some respect for the good he's trying to do.

[turfkiller]

11:23 AM on 12/13/2011

Respect has to be a two way street. As such I cannot. A perfect example is the new Latin mass translations. They actually constitute a grave step backward to another time, where a more dismal and archaic method of interpreting the human psyche was utilized. In hiding from despair he in his religous pronographic concepts imprisons us with chains of his despair.

[mantle77k]

12:29 PM on 12/13/2011

respect for molesting children and covering it up? He should be ashamed of himself.....