The Pope in Uruguay visits one of the poorest neighborhoods in the world today

Casavalle, a suburb of Montevideo, where violence, drugs and poverty rule. The barrio, on the outskirts of Uruguay's capital, is one of the poorest neighborhoods in the world. This afternoon (at 9pm Italian time) Pope Leo

The meeting, at 5pm local time, will be held in the parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the ecclesial reality that seeks to give dignity to this neighborhood where, according to figures from the National Institute of Statistics of Uruguay, 49.6% of people live in absolute poverty. "I think there is a very profound theological, evangelical reason behind the Pope's choice to come and visit Casavalle, the large suburb of Montevideo where around thirty thousand people live. The people of these areas - the parish priest Don Pablo Coimbra explains to the Vatican media - have always been excluded, they have always felt on the margin. The fact that the Pope comes here, that the Church sets its sights on this area, means that for the first time many are not on the margin but in the heart, in the centre, in the maternal womb of the Church. People intuit it, feel it, live it".

The support of the local church is across the board, from children's education to food parcels, at least a hundred every month. But it is the housing project that aims to give dignity to people in the neighborhood: real houses instead of the 'cantegriles', the shacks made of sheet metal, cardboard and wood. Pope Leo will bless twelve new small houses built with the contribution of the Vatican.