""Entrance into Europe Is a Reciprocal Process of Giving and Receiving" - Press Conference en Route to Croatia, June 4, 2011.

Q: Holy Father, you have already been to Croatia several times and your predecessor made three trips to this country. Can we speak of a special relationship between the Holy See and Croatia? What are the reasons for this relationship and the most meaningful aspects of this trip?
Benedict XVI: Personally, I have been to Croatia twice. The first time for the funeral of Cardinal Franjo Seper, my predecessor at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who was my great friend, also because he was the president of the Theological Commission, of which I was a member. So I came to know his goodness, his intelligence, his discernment, his joyfulness. And this gave me an idea of Croatia itself, because he was a great Croatian and a great European.
And then again I was in Croatia at the invitation of his personal secretary, Capek, who was also a man of great joy and great goodness, for a symposium and a celebration in a Marian sanctuary. There I witnessed the people's piety, which is similar to that in my own country, I must say. And I was very happy to see this incarnation of the faith: a faith lived with heart, where the supernatural becomes natural and the natural is illuminated by the supernatural.

"Inject New Life into That Priceless Common Heritage of Human and Christian Values" - Address upon Arriving in Croatia at the Pleso International Airport in Zagreb, June 4, 2011.

… May Saint Joseph, watchful guardian of the Redeemer and heavenly Patron of your Nation, together with the Virgin Mary, "Fidelissima Advocata Croatiae", obtain for you peace and salvation, today and always. Thank you!

"Rooted in Christ, You Will Fully Become the Person You Are Meant To Be" - Message to Croatian Youth delivered at a prayer vigil in Zagreb's Ban Josip Jelacic Square, June 4, 2011.

… This young life, completely given over to love, bears the fragrance of Christ; it invites all of us not to be afraid and to entrust ourselves to the Lord as did the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, who is venerated and loved here under the title of Our Lady of the Stone Gate. This evening I wish to entrust each of you to her, asking her to accompany and protect you, and above all to help you to encounter the Lord and in him to discover the full meaning of your life. Mary did not fear to surrender herself completely to God’s plan; in her we see the goal to which we are called: full communion with the Lord. Our entire life is a journey towards the Unity and Trinity of Love which is God; we can live our lives in the certainty that we will never be abandoned. Dear young people of Croatia, I embrace all of you as sons and daughters! You have a place in my heart and I leave you my blessing. "Rejoice in the Lord always!" May his joy, the joy of true love, be your strength. Amen. Praised be Jesus and Mary!

Homily at the Occasion of the National Day Of Croatian Catholic Families, Zagreb Hippodrome, Sunday, June 5, 2011

… In the first reading, we saw how the apostolic community was united in prayer in the Upper Room with Mary, the mother of Jesus (cf. Acts 1:12-14). This is a picture of the Church with deep roots in the paschal event: …And they gathered together in prayer with Mary in the Upper Room, waiting for the promised event (cf. Acts 1:14).
Dear parents,... Be like a little Upper Room, like that of Mary and the disciples, in which to live unity, communion and prayer!... May the Virgin Mary, Queen of Croatia, accompany you always on your way. Amen! Praised be Jesus and Mary!

On the Family: "The Lord Loves the Family and He Is Close to You" – Regina Coeli Address at the end of Mass at the Zabgreb Hippodrome to mark the National Day of Croatian Catholic Families, June 5, 2011

… I know that you find great strength in Mary, the Mother of Christ and our Mother. So we now turn to her, spiritually oriented towards her Shrine at Marija Bistrica, and we entrust to her all Croatian families: parents, children, grandparents; the journey of husband and wife, the task of education, professional activities and home-making. We invoke her intercession that public institutions may always sustain the family, the basic cell of the social fabric. Dear Brothers and Sisters, within a year we will celebrate the Seventh World Meeting of Families in Milan. We entrust to our Lady the preparation of this important church event.

Blessed Stepinac, Valiant Pastor, Example of Christian Fortitude – Address during vespers with the bishops, priests, religious, and seminarians in Zagreb's Cathedral, dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and to St. Stephen I of Hungary, June 5, 2011

… My dearest friends! May Blessed Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac and all the saints of your land intercede for your people and may the Mother of the Savior protect you. With great affection, I impart to you and to the entire Church in Croatia my Apostolic Blessing. Amen.
Praised be Jesus and Mary!

Farewell to Croatia, June 5, 2011

… May the Virgin Mary watch over the historic journey of your homeland and of the whole of Europe. And let my Apostolic Blessing, which I offer you with great affection, accompany you on your way

On the Trip to Croatia: "Fidelity of Spouses Has Itself Become a Meaningful Witness to the Love of Christ" – General Audience on June 8, 2011

… This is why the Virgin Mary unceasingly intercedes with her Son, so that -- as at the Wedding Feast of Cana -- He might continually renew spouses in the gift of the "good wine"; that is, of Grace, which enables them to live as "one flesh" through the various seasons and situations of life.
Now, as we thank the Lord for this great gift, let us ask Him, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Queen of Croatia, that what I was able to sow might bear abundant fruit, for Croatian families, for the entire nation and for all of Europe.
In English:
With deep gratitude to all who assisted in my visit, I commend the nation and its families to the prayers of Mary, Queen of Croatia.

"Your Nation Has Written Glorious Pages in the History of the European Continent" - Letter to Molodovan Ambassador, June 9, 2011

… Invoking the intercession of the Virgin Mary, I pray to the Lord that he may shed abundant blessings upon you, your family and your collaborators, as well as upon the Moldovan people and their leaders.

"May Your People Never Again Be the Object of ... Contempt" - Audience with Gypsy Pilgrim Group, June 11, 2011

… May Mary Most Holy, so dear to your people and whom you invoke as "Amari Devleskeridej,""Our Mother of God," accompany you on the highways of the world and may Bl. Ceferino support you with his intercession.

"God Is Reason, God Is Will, God Is Love, God Is Beauty" - Pentecost Homily in St. Peter's Basilica, June 12, 2011

… The Church re-lived in this way the events of her origins, when the Apostles, gathered in the cenacle in Jerusalem "were perseverant and united in prayer together with some women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers" (Acts 1:14).

On the Church's Baptism Day: "The Breath of the Holy Spirit Fills the Universe"- Regina Coeli Address, June 12, 2011

… In effect, the paschal mystery -- the passion, death and resurrection of Christ and his ascension into heaven -- finds its fulfillment in the powerful effusion of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles gathered together with Mary, the Mother of the Lord, and the other disciples.
…To the Virgin Mary, temple of the Holy Spirit, we entrust the Church, that she might always live according to Jesus Christ, his Word, and his commandments, and that through the perennial action of the Spirit Paraclete she might proclaim to all that "Jesus is Lord" (1 Corinthians 12:3).

"May There Be a Growing Commitment to a Renewed Season of Evangelization" - Address to Roman Ecclesial Congress, June 13, 2011

… Do not be afraid to commit yourselves to the Gospel! Despite the difficulties you will encounter in reconciling the requirements of the family and of work with those of the community in which you are carrying out your mission, always trust in the help of the Virgin Mary, Star of Evangelization.

"You Are Called to Teach, Sanctify and Govern the Local Churches"- Address to India's Episcopal Group IV at the end of their five-yearly "ad limina" visit, June 17, 2011

… Invoking upon all of you the maternal intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church, and assuring you of my prayers for you and for those entrusted to your pastoral care, I gladly impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of grace and peace in the Lord.

"The Unity Created by Love Is a Greater Unity Than a Merely Physical One"- Homily at Mass in Serravalle's Olympic Stadium, San Marino, June 19, 2011

… In addition to this faith, it is also necessary to remember [San Marino's] absolute fidelity to the Bishop of Rome, to whom this Church has always looked with devotion and affection, as well as its attention to the great tradition of the Eastern Church, and its profound devotion to the Virgin Mary.

On World Refugee Day: "Guarantee a Welcome and Dignified Living Conditions for Refugees" – Angelus Address, June 19, 2011

… As we conclude this celebration, the midday hour invites us to turn in prayer to the Virgin Mary. Also in this land, our Most Holy Mother is venerated in various shrines, ancient and modern. To her I entrust all of you and the whole Sammarinese and Montefeltrina population, in a particular way persons suffering in body and spirit.

"In the Risen Lord We Have the Certainty of Our Hope"- Address to Youth of San Marino-Montefeltro held in the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele of Pennabilli, June 19, 2011

… As conclusion to this meeting, I wish to entrust each one of you to the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church. Like her, may you be able to pronounce and renew your "yes" and always proclaim the greatness of the Lord with your life, because He gives you words of eternal life.

"Thank You, Lord Jesus! Thank You for Your Fidelity" - Corpus Christi Homily, Rome, June 23, 2011

… Without illusions, without ideological utopias, we walk the streets of the world, bringing within us the Body of the Lord, like the Virgin Mary in the mystery of the Visitation.

"Never Forget the Eucharistic Dimension of Your Objective" - Address to Aid Agencies for Eastern Churches (ROACO), June 24, 2011.

… I put these wishes under the protection of the Most Holy Mother of God and of the Precursor of Christ, Saint John the Baptist, on the liturgical Solemnity of his birth. …

On the Eucharist as Antidote to Individualism: "Without the Eucharist the Church Simply Would Not Exist" – Angelus Address, June 26, 2011

… Dear friends, let us call upon the Virgin Mary, whom my predecessor, Blessed John Paul II defined as a "Eucharistic woman" ("Ecclesia de Eucharistia," 53-58). In her school our life too becomes fully "Eucharistic," open to God and to others, able to transform evil into good by the power of love, which fosters unity, communion, fraternity.

"Fidelity Is needed! We Live in a Society That Has Lost This Value"- Address to Association of Sts. Peter and Paul, June 26, 2011

… Finally, I would like to entrust all of you to the Virgin Mary. I know that in your Association she is venerated with the title of "Virgo Fidelis." Today more than ever fidelity is needed! We live in a society that has lost this value. Change, "mobility," "flexibility," are exalted for economic and organization reasons that are sometimes legitimate. But the quality of a human relationship is seen in fidelity! Sacred Scripture shows us that God is faithful. With his grace and Mary's help, may you be faithful to Christ and to the Church, ready to endure with humility and patience the price that this carries. May the Virgo Fidelis obtain peace for your families and that authentic Christian vocations be born in them to marriage, the priesthood and the consecrated life.

On Sts. Peter and Paul: "The Two Great Apostles Are the 'Wings' of Knowledge of God" – Angelus Address, June 29, 2011

… Let us invoke with trust the Virgin Mary, Queen of the Apostles, so that every baptized person will become increasingly a "living stone" that builds the Kingdom of God.
In Spanish: Invoking the protection of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, I impart from my heart the apostolic blessing, which it pleases me to extend to all the pastors and faithful of these particular Churches in Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Argentina and Chile.
In Italian: May the Virgin Mary, Regina Apostolorum, watch over us and sustain you, and may my blessing accompany you, which from my heart I renew to each one of you, to your loved ones and to all who are under your episcopal care.