LEON, Mexico — He donned a sombrero and was serenaded by mariachi bands, embraced by Mexicans who called him their brother. Pope Benedict XVI has a bit of a tougher sell as he heads to a Cuba that until recently was officially atheist.

Benedict leaves behind Spanish-speaking Latin America's most Roman Catholic country Monday and arrives in its least, hoping to inspire the same outpouring of faith on the communist-run island that he did in Mexico's conservative Catholic heartland.