MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Mercosur Parliament recalls Pope Francis as a 'peacebuilder' from the global south

Parlasur President Rodrigo Gamarra of Paraguay said the Argentine pope left “a very great legacy” and stressed the need for the bloc's member states to revive his teachings on peace

The Mercosur Parliament (Parlasur) held a special session in Montevideo on Monday to mark the first anniversary of the death of Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21, 2025, in which lawmakers and religious representatives from the bloc's member states highlighted the late Argentine pontiff's legacy as an international mediator, advocate for the most vulnerable, and a geopolitical figure who emerged from “the periphery.” The tribute, titled “Francis, the Pope of peace: toward a geopolitics of peace in Mercosur,” took place in the Uruguayan Chamber of Representatives at the Legislative Palace.

Parlasur President Rodrigo Gamarra of Paraguay said the Argentine pope left “a very great legacy” and stressed the need for the bloc's member states to revive his teachings on peace and regional unity. The president of the Uruguayan Chamber, Rodrigo Goñi, acknowledged that Parlasur succeeded in delivering a tribute that Uruguay's own parliament had been attempting to organize unsuccessfully since the pontiff's death.

The session included an institutional milestone: for the first time in the 101-year history of the Uruguayan Legislative Palace, a Catholic priest addressed the chamber. The Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Montevideo, Gonzalo Estévez, attended on behalf of Archbishop Daniel Sturla and urged lawmakers to prioritize “dialogue, forgiveness, and reconciliation over hatred, war, and greed.”

Among the speakers, Argentine lawmakers highlighted Francis's global dimension. Congressman Raúl Bittel said the pontiff “understood from this land that humanity does not save itself alone” and described his figure as “a call to collective consciousness” rather than a circumstantial tribute. Priest and lawmaker Juan Carlos Molina argued that Francis “moved the bar” by placing “the Jesus of the poor” at the center of the Church and shifting the focus of geopolitics toward the peripheries and the protection of migrants.

Former Argentine ambassador to the Holy See and lawmaker Eduardo Valdés recalled the pontiff's diplomatic mediations, including his role in averting a US military intervention in Syria in 2013, his contribution to the thaw between Cuba and the United States in 2014, and his support for the Colombian peace process. The founder of the La Alameda Foundation, Gustavo Vera, highlighted Francis's internal reforms within the Holy See, including the intervention of the Vatican Bank and the closure of “more than 4,500 accounts linked to money laundering and organized crime,” as well as the decision to refer pedophilia cases to ordinary justice rather than canon law.

The tribute formed part of a series of international commemorations for the first anniversary of the pontiff's death, which Pope Leo XIV described this month as “a significant heritage for the Church.”