Pope Benedict has urged Cubans to create "open and renewed society" at a Mass attended by 200,000 people in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba (full text, video). The Vatican has cancelled a Pontifical Academy for Life conference following criticism that it included supporters of embryonic stem-cell research. The district superior of the Society of St Pius X in Germany has said that there are now "legitimate hopes for a satisfactory solution" to the dispute between the SSPX and the Holy See. Rocco Palmo reports on the first day of the landmark trial of a Philadelphia archdiocese official accused of failing to protect children from clerical abuse. John Allen says that Pope Benedict gave a distinctive "new twist to pro-life rhetoric" during his trip to Mexico. Stephanie Mencimer argues that the US bishops received a major blow last Friday when a federal judge "essentially validated the Obama administration's position" on contraception. Doug Bandow welcomes the publication of a list of the top 50 worst persecutors of Christians in the world (full list). And Vatican Radio discovers how the Cuban crocodile blessed by Pope Benedict at a general audience is coping with life in Havana zoo.