- Title: File of Pope Benedict visits to Latin America
- Date: 31st December 2022
- Summary: GUANAJUATO, MEXICO (FILE - MARCH 24, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WAITING FOR POPE PEOPLE WAVING FLAGS FROM BALCONY WINDOW VARIOUS OF POPE IN POPE MOBILE WAVING PEOPLE PEOPLE TAKING PHOTOS SMALL CHILD BEING HANDED TO POPE POPE BENEDICT BLESSING PRAYER CUSHION PEOPLE CHEERING AS POPE BENEDICT DRIVES BY IN POPEMOBILE VARIOUS OF POPE BENEDICT IN POPEMOBILE
- Embargoed: 14th January 2023 10:45
- Keywords: Brazil Cuba Fidel Castro Latin America Mexico Pope Benedict Raul Castro
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: Various
- Topics: Religion/Belief,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA003926628122022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL AND FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY
Former Pope Benedict, who died on Saturday (December 31) aged 95, was the first pontiff in 600 years to resign, leaving behind a Catholic Church battered by sexual abuse scandals, mired in mismanagement and polarised between conservatives and progressives.
Elected to the papacy on April 19, 2005 when he was 78 - 20 years older than John Paul was when he was elected - Pope Benedict ruled over a slower-paced, more cerebral and less impulsive Vatican.
But while conservatives cheered him for trying to reaffirm traditional Catholic identity, his critics accused him of turning back the clock on reforms by nearly half a century and hurting dialogue with Muslims, Jews and other Christians.
During his service as a catholic leader, Benedict turned to Latin America on various occasions.
For his first visit to the Americas, Brazil was selected to receive the catholic leader in 2007. At the time, and in front of about 150,000 faithful gathered outside the Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida, one of the world's largest cathedrals, Pope Benedict called Latin America "the Continent of Hope" as he attempted to reinvigorate the Roman Catholic Church's waning influence in the region.
In addresses throughout his visit to Brazil, the world's most populous Catholic country, the then 80-year-old Pope told people to return to strict family values and shun promiscuity and the temptations of hedonism. He has also stressed the Church's unwavering opposition to abortion.
During its 2012 visit to Guanajuato, Mexico, Pope Benedict waved to thousands crowding the streets.
During his stay, he held an early evening prayer service with Mexican and other Latin American members of the church.
At the service, the Pope addressed the country's ongoing drug-related violence and offered words of encouragement.
The Pope's next stop was then Cuba, where residents and officials prepared for his arrival with anticipation while dissident groups accused the then President Raul Modesto Castro's government of flouting human rights and suppressing their voices.
During his 2012 three-day visit to Cuba, the pontiff honoured the country's patron, held two open-air masses and met with both President Raul Castro and Cuba's former leader, Fidel Castro.
During the farewell ceremony, President Raul Castro expressed the country's gratitude for his visit.
In February 2013, Latin Americans reacted to Pope Benedict's stunning announcement that he would resign later that month. Benedict XVI, at 85 years old, shocked the world as he stepped down as pope, citing poor health as the reason behind his decision.
By the end of his time as pope, Benedict's leadership of 1.2 billion Catholics had been beset by child sexual abuse crises that tarnished the Church, one address in which he upset the Muslim community and a scandal over the leaking of his private papers by his personal butler.
His role was later occupied by the Argentine Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis, the first Latin American pope.
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