Pope ends Uruguay visit with appeal to reconnect with Catholics
Leo XIV celebrated Mass before some 30,000 people in Florida before traveling to Buenos Aires, the next destination on his regional tour.
Pope Leo XIV concluded his Uruguay visit on November 8 with an appeal for Catholics to seek out people who have become distant from the Church. Some 30,000 worshippers attended his closing Mass in Florida before he flew to Buenos Aires.
Argentina is the second destination on his regional tour and will receive its first papal visit since 1987. His scheduled engagements in Buenos Aires include honoring General José de San Martín, meeting President Javier Milei at the Casa Rosada and delivering an address to authorities at the Palacio Libertad.
In Florida, Leo urged believers to visit homes, listen to people’s concerns and openly acknowledge their Christian faith. His homily also emphasized how mothers and grandmothers transmit religious belief. The Mass took place at the shrine of Uruguay’s patron saint, the Virgin of the Thirty-Three, on her feast day.
The trip was Uruguay’s first papal visit in 38 years, following John Paul II’s in 1988. During just over two days, Leo raised concerns about technology and challenged the country’s abortion and euthanasia laws in remarks to authorities in Montevideo. His other engagements included a Mass in Paysandú attended by some 30,000 people and a vigil at the Centenario Stadium before some 60,000.
