Pope Benedict the Sixteenth is preparing to head to Cuba for the next leg of his tour of central America.

On Sunday, hundreds of thousands of worshippers gathered to listen to his speech in Mexico, where he held an open-air mass in which he condemned drug trafficking and corruption.

The pope's visit to Cuba coincides with celebrations to honour the country's patron saint, Our Lady of Charity.

More than half of all Cubans are Roman Catholic but many believe in a mix of African beliefs and the Catholic faith.

Al Jazeera's Adam Raney reports.