Pope asks South America to overcome divisions between its countries in historic mass in Uruguay

Pope Leo the 14th gathered thousands of faithful this Saturday (7) in Paysandú, a Uruguayan city close to the border with Argentina, celebrating the first mass of his trip through Latin America. The pontiff arrived in the country on Friday (6), in Montevideo, where he was received by President Yamandú Orsi and gave a speech in Independence Square.

In his speech, the pope asked the people of South America to overcome the divisions between their countries and invited the "building of bridges", citing the General Artigas bridge, which crosses the Uruguay River and connects Paysandú to the Argentine city of Colón.

Crowds awaited his arrival in the open all night, under heavy rain, which eased shortly before his arrival. He is the first pope to visit the city, an important economic center in northwestern Uruguay.

The tour also includes Argentina and Peru, the country where the pope lived for almost 20 years. The last papal visit to Uruguay was in 1988, when John Paul II led the Catholic Church. It is, therefore, the first mass led by a pontiff in the country in almost 40 years, celebrated by Leo 14 in Spanish.

Paysandú is decorated with images of the Pope and the yellow and white of the Vatican. Local businesses sell products with the face of Leo 14, such as bags and flags, and there are stalls selling saints.

The pontiff is expected to stay in the city for around three hours. Then, return to Montevideo, where you will visit the Casavalle neighborhood, which has the highest homicide rate in the capital, and the Catholic University. Afterwards, he will lead a prayer vigil for 60,000 people at the historic Centenário stadium.

Uruguay is the country in Latin America with the highest percentage of people who declare themselves atheist, agnostic or have no religion: 48.7% of the population, according to a 2023 Latinobarómetro survey.

The trip takes place less than a month after undergoing surgery to remove a malignant nodule in the lung. The plans were put on hold, but in the end the pontiff not only maintained the dates but also did not change in any way the itinerary published in September.

The tour includes trips almost every day, helicopter travel and a stay of just over three hours in Cusco, a Peruvian city in the Andes Mountains. The location at more than 3,400 meters of altitude requires good respiratory capacity from visitors.

The effort makes sense considering the weight of Latin America in the number of church followers. According to data from the Pontifical Yearbook 2026, made with data collected in 2024, the Americas still concentrate 47.7% of the world's Catholic population — even with the retraction caused by the growth in the number of evangelicals, atheists, agnostics or people without religion.

The place where evangelical churches advance most strongly was left out. In Brazil, 46% of the population declared themselves Catholic in 2024, according to a Pew Research Center survey released in January. In 2013–2014, this rate was 61%, according to the same study.