Thousands of people from Uruguay and neighboring Argentina and Brazil are pouring into a city on the Uruguay River for Pope Leo XIV’s first Mass on the continent PAYSANDÚ, 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. 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 375 kilometers (230 miles) from the capital, Montevideo, was hosting Leo’s first Mass at the start of his three-nation South American tour that was in doubt after he underwent lung cancer surgery on Oct. 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 in the crowd said they were deeply moved that Leo pressed on with his ambitious 12-day tour despite his recent cancer diagnosis. 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 was to press that message later Saturday by touring a Montevideo neighborhood beset by drug trafficking and gang violence, where the church is working with municipal authorities to build housing and provide rehab programs for addicts. His final event, too, was likely to drive home the call to reject religious indifference and embrace the faith: a prayer vigil in Montevideo's Centenary Stadium. At an evening vespers service Friday in Montevideo’s cathedral, Leo acknowledged many people here don’t even know about the faith or its heritage that is intrinsically tied to Uruguay’s independence and nationhood.
The Catholic Church, for example, had no new seminarians in 2024, though a few have since entered training for the priesthood. Leo told the seminarians, priests and bishops to model themselves on Christ to attract the faithful. In Argentina, Leo will visit Buenos Aires, Luján and Córdoba before heading to Peru, his second homeland and the final destination of his tour.
Some young Catholics involved in local church groups hoped the sight of a pope drawing crowds would challenge Uruguay’s image as a country indifferent to religion. This place is full of people,” she added. Still, Paysandú itself greeted the pope quietly, as though it were an ordinary weekend, with scant decorations and only a few homes seen flying Vatican flags.
Saturday’s Mass is 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 help the poor, saying that people who met him “found something of Christ’s goodness” even before he preached. Some younger attendees on Saturday said Leo’s humane tone and emphasis on care for the vulnerable resonated beyond the faithful in their secular country as people grapple with a turbulent world.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
