"I announce to you a great joy", is the motto chosen to accompany the Pope Prevost's trip to Uruguay. The pontiff returns to the small Latin American country almost forty years after the visits of Saint John Paul II in 1987 and 1988. The official logo features a depiction of Leo and the Virgen de los Treinta y Tres, Patron Saint of the country.
According to the official program announced by the Vatican, Leone will stop in Uruguay for two days until Sunday 8 November. After arriving at Montevideo-Carrasco International Airport, scheduled for 4.30pm local time (8.30pm Italian time), the Holy Father will participate in the welcome ceremony in Plaza Independencia. Then it will be the turn of the meeting with the authorities, civil society and with the President of the Republic, Yamandu Orsi. Prevost's first day in the Uruguayan capital will end with the celebration of vespers together with the religious world in the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and Saints Philip and James.
On Saturday 7 November Leone will move to Paysandù, in the west of the country, to meet the faithful and celebrate mass in Parque París Londres. On the same day the Pope will return to Montevideo where in the afternoon he will go to the Parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe to meet the social reality of Casavalle, an area located in the central-northern suburbs with widespread socio-economic fragility. Then it will be the turn to greet the representatives of the world of education at the Catholic University of Uruguay. In the evening, however, a huge crowd is expected for the prayer vigil at the Centenario Stadium.
On the morning of Sunday 8 November, Pope Leo will arrive in Florida, a town about 90 kilometers from the capital considered a sort of "cradle" of the nation because it is the place where the Declaration of Independence took place in 1825. But it is also an important religious center due to the presence of the National Sanctuary of the Virgen de los Treinta y Tres in whose square in front the Pope will celebrate Sunday mass. After lunch with the Uruguayan bishops in the "Jesús Buen Pastor" shelter, the pontiff will take leave with a ceremony at Montevideo airport.
From secularism to the family to violence, drug trafficking and evangelization: there are various themes at the center of Leo XIV's visit to Uruguay, anticipated in some way by the audience in the Vatican on 18 September with the bishops of the South American country. The delegation, led by Cardinal Daniel Sturla and the bishop of Maldonado-Punta del Este-Minas Milton Tróccoli, reported the concerns and hopes of the Catholic community which, according to recent data from Equipos Consultores, is today made up of around 1.3 million faithful, a third of the total population.
For days there was uncertainty surrounding Leo XIV's departure for South America. The announcement, made by himself at the end of the Angelus on 11 October, on the discovery of a malignant nodule in the lung had raised uncertainties about the health conditions of the pontiff, who was hospitalized and operated on the following Tuesday at the Gemelli Polyclinic. However, after a quick hospital stay and return to the Vatican, the doctors gave the go-ahead for the trip. "I am happy to be able to return to the continent where I have experienced so many moments of my life. May this trip be an opportunity to open our hearts to each other, strengthen our communion as brothers and sisters and renew our commitment to announcing the Gospel with joy", said Prevost in a message published on social media in which he confirmed the entire agenda of the visit.
