MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Leo XIV leaves Uruguay urging Catholics to reach out to “those who have drifted away”

Leo XIV’s was the first papal visit to Uruguay in 38 years, since John Paul II’s in 1988

Pope Leo XIV ended his visit to Uruguay on Sunday with a Mass before some 30,000 faithful in the city of Florida, where he urged Catholics to reach out to those who have drifted away from the Church in South America’s most secular country, before flying to Buenos Aires, the second stop on his regional tour.

“We cannot always wait for those who have drifted away to return on their own. Uruguay, we must set out! We must enter homes again, draw close to people, listen to their questions and bring them to Christ!” the pontiff said at the most forceful moment of his homily, celebrated before the shrine of the Virgin of the Thirty-Three, the country’s patron saint, on her feast day. “Do not be afraid to say you are Christians,” he added, in a message that also focused on the role of mothers and grandmothers in passing on the faith.

Leo XIV’s was the first papal visit to Uruguay in 38 years, since John Paul II’s in 1988. In just over two days, the pontiff championed humanism and warned about the risks of technology, but also questioned Uruguay’s abortion and euthanasia laws in his speech to the authorities in Montevideo. On Saturday he celebrated Mass before some 30,000 faithful in Paysandú, where he praised mate as a symbol of unity and the bridge linking the city with Argentina as a call to dialogue; he visited the Casavalle neighbourhood and the Catholic University, and led a vigil before some 60,000 people at the Centenario Stadium.

The visit made the faith of some political leaders visible. “We must take care of the body but also of the soul,” said Fernando Pereira, president of the ruling Broad Front. Juan Martín Fernández, president of the Christian Democratic Party, said the Pope “has stood up to leaders like Donald Trump and has questioned Israel over Gaza” and has endorsed “the option for the poor”. “Uruguay is the most secular country, but we have his presence at the traditional pilgrimage of the Virgin of the Thirty-Three, and it is something that happens very rarely,” said Florida’s mayor, Carlos Enciso.

In Buenos Aires, the Pope is due to pay tribute to General José de San Martín, meet President Javier Milei at the Casa Rosada and address the authorities at the Palacio Libertad. It will be the first papal visit to Argentina since 1987.