Pope Leo XIV begins South American tour with first Mass in Uruguay
Thousands of people poured into a city on the Uruguay River on Saturday for Pope Leo XIV’s first Mass in South America, as the pontiff sought to raise the profile of the Catholic Church in Uruguay, the region’s most secular country, reports BritPanorama.
More than 30,000 people — many from Uruguay but also from neighboring Argentina and Brazil — had registered to attend the Mass in the Parque París Londres, a sprawling green space on the southern edge of Paysandú, a city that no pope has ever visited before.
Paysandú, around 230 miles from the capital, Montevideo, hosted Leo’s first Mass at the start of his three-nation South American tour, which had been in doubt after he underwent lung cancer surgery on October 13.
Crowds of faithful in rain ponchos, many in the Vatican’s yellow, began streaming in when the gates opened at 5:30 a.m. as a band played popular Spanish hymns. Some attendees expressed that they were deeply moved by Leo’s decision to proceed with his ambitious 12-day tour despite his recent cancer diagnosis.
“He’s the representative of Christ but he’s human. And we weren’t sure if he could make it, but he pushed through for us,” said Soledad Sánchez, 73, who had driven to Paysandú from northern Uruguay, her eyes filling with tears. “He made it here to give us a message of peace because he knows our world needs it right now.”
Leo, who arrived in Uruguay on Friday, engaged in an intense afternoon and evening of events, aiming to urge the people in South America’s most secular country, with a population of 3.5 million, to turn to the Catholic faith for strength in confronting today’s problems and challenges.
He was to press that message later Saturday by touring a Montevideo neighborhood plagued by drug trafficking and gang violence, where the church is collaborating with municipal authorities to build housing and provide rehabilitation programs for addicts.
His final event was likely to further drive home the call to reject religious indifference: a prayer vigil in Montevideo’s Centenary Stadium.
During an evening vespers service Friday in Montevideo’s cathedral, Leo acknowledged that many people in the country are unaware of the faith or its heritage, which is intrinsically tied to Uruguay’s independence and nationhood. For instance, the Catholic Church had no new seminarians in 2024, although a few have since entered training for the priesthood.
Leo urged seminarians, priests, and bishops to model themselves on Christ to attract the faithful. “One of the secrets of evangelization is to resemble the one whom we proclaim,” Leo stated. “In this land, where many of our contemporaries barely know Jesus Christ and so many young people have grown up far from the life of the Church, that witness has a special power.”
Paysandú, located in western Uruguay and just across a bridge from the eastern Argentine city of Colón, was more accessible for many Argentines than any of the stops on Leo’s tour in Argentina, his next destination after Uruguay.
In Argentina, Leo will visit Buenos Aires, Luján, and Córdoba before heading to Peru, his second homeland and the final destination of his tour.
“Argentina is a much more religious country than Uruguay, and there’s this desire to be here to witness something historic,” said Luciana Lobato, 20, an Argentine tour agent who organized buses of 180 pilgrims from across the border.
Some young Catholics involved in local church groups expressed hope that the sight of a pope drawing crowds would challenge Uruguay’s image as a nation indifferent to religion. “The reality I see in my town is that there are tons of young people who are really interested in religion, who are trying to find meaning and community in difficult moments,” said Teresa Sabellini, 18, from Paysandú. “And now look around here. This place is full of people.”
However, Paysandú itself greeted the pope quietly, resembling an ordinary weekend, with scant decorations and only a few homes seen flying Vatican flags.
Saturday’s Mass was dedicated to Blessed Jacinto Vera, a 19th-century priest who became Uruguay’s first bishop. Leo praised him on Friday as a pastor who traveled the country’s roads to assist the poor, noting that people who met him “found something of Christ’s goodness” even before he preached.
Some younger attendees on Saturday remarked that Leo’s humane tone and emphasis on care for the vulnerable resonated beyond the faithful in their secular nation as they grapple with a turbulent world. “I wouldn’t call myself religious, but I like this pope. He has a really good message for humanity,” said Santiago Biglieri, 18, a Colombian residing in Uruguay. “Even for the nonbelievers, there’s something to take from his ideas.”
