News/International

HAVANA - Pope Benedict XVI spent more than 40 minutes meeting privately with Cuban President Raul Castro and asked the Cuban leader for further freedoms for the Catholic Church in Cuba and attention to certain "humanitarian" situations.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, told reporters late March 27 that while he could not give the press details about the humanitarian cases raised during the meeting, the Pope did give Castro specific names of people in detention or suffering for other reasons the government was in a position to help alleviate.

WASHINGTON - Just in time for Mother's Day, U.S. Catholics parishes will be able to celebrate the new Rite for the Blessing of a Child in the Womb.

The Vatican has given its approval to publication in English and Spanish of the new rite, which was approved by the U.S. bishops in November 2008, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced March 26.

The blessing will be printed in both languages in a combined booklet.

VATICAN CITY - A Vatican-sponsored congress on the ethical use of stem cells in scientific research was canceled because of a lack of funding, organizers said.

The Third International Congress on Responsible Stem Cell Research was to be held April 25-28 at the Vatican and was being organized by the Pontifical Academy for Life with the collaboration of the Vatican-based International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, the Jerome Lejeune Foundation and the Bioethical Consultative Committee of Monaco.

SAN SALVADOR - A Salvadoran bishop said he helped persuade the leaders of El Salvador's two most notorious gangs to end a wave of killings across the country.

Bishop Fabio Colindres, who ministers as a military chaplain, said that for humanitarian reasons he mediated with the government so that 30 leaders of the Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 gangs, who have been held in a maximum security prison in Zacatecoluca, could gain better prisons conditions.

PHILADELPHIA - State prosecutors and defense lawyers for Msgr. William J. Lynn and Father James J. Brennan all decried the issue of sexual abuse of children at the start of a criminal trial March 26 in Philadelphia.

Despite that apparent agreement, the attorneys embarked on sharply divergent paths as they made opening arguments before presiding Judge M. Teresa Sarmina and jurors at the beginning of the trial for Msgr. Lynn, 61, former secretary for clergy of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and Father Brennan, an archdiocesan priest.

LAGOS, Nigeria - Delivering a message from Pope Benedict XVI, the president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue urged Christians and Muslims in Nigeria to be tolerant of each other in an effort to build understanding and end the violence that has plagued much of the country.

Speaking at an interfaith meeting in the northern city of Jos March 25, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran said tolerance was the only path to achieving a peaceful coexistence among people of different faiths.

The cardinal explained during the meeting, organized by Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama of Jos, that the pope sent him to join religious leaders in seeking ways of ending violent attacks that have left nearly 2,000 people dead and widespread destruction.

SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba - Celebrating an outdoor Mass on his first day in Cuba, Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged the struggles of the country's Catholics after half a century of communism and described human freedom as a necessity for both salvation and social justice.

The pope spoke March 26 in Antonio Maceo Revolution Square, in Cuba's second-largest city. He had arrived in the country a few hours earlier, after spending three days in Mexico.

SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba - Pope Benedict XVI began his three days in Cuba with a call for greater freedom and human rights, including increased liberty for the Catholic Church to proclaim the Gospel and serve the Cuban people.

After flying from Mexico, the Pope was greeted at the airport in Santiago de Cuba March 26 by President Raul Castro and a formal salute of 21 cannon blasts.

Crowds began arriving along the pope's motorcade route at around 10 a.m. By 11:30 many of the streets in Santiago de Cuba were human rivers.

SILAO, Mexico - Pope Benedict XVI bade Mexico a warm "adios," emphasizing he meant, "Remain with God," concluding a trip marked by outpourings of faith and affection from people in the world's second-most populous Catholic country.

"I leave full of unforgettable experiences, not the least of which are the innumerable courtesies and signs of affection that I've received," Pope Benedict said March 26 in his closing remarks before departing for Cuba.

LEON, Mexico - Pope Benedict XVI thanked Latin America's bishops for their hard work in a troubled region and urged them to continue the evangelization campaign he launched with them at their first meeting five years earlier.

The Pope spoke during a vespers service at Leon's cathedral March 25, the second and last full day of his visit to Mexico. The congregation included about 130 Mexican bishops, along with representatives of other national conferences in the Latin American bishops' council, CELAM.

Pope Benedict said the bishops deserved the "gratitude and admiration" due to "those who sow the Gospel amid thorns, some in the form of persecution, others in the form of social exclusion or contempt." He also recognized that they suffered from shortages of money and personnel and "limitations imposed on the freedom of the church in carrying out her mission."