Pope Leo XIV concluded his Uruguayan visit on Sunday by honoring the women who have transmitted the Catholic faith to younger generations, underscoring the Church’s enduring role since the founding of Latin America’s most secular nation.
“You taught your children to pray, yet today they no longer do. You once attended Mass together, and years have passed since they last entered a church,” he said. Still, he urged them not to despair.
“Mothers and grandmothers: never tire of passing on the faith!”
He traveled to the city of Florida, north of Montevideo, to observe a significant local Catholic feast day—the Virgin of the Thirty-Three—during his final engagement in the country.
In paying homage to the women who transmitted the Catholic faith, he also addressed gender-based violence, calling on men to treat their wives with respect.
His homily addressed a pressing issue across Latin America: over the past five years, the region has recorded nearly 20,000 femicides, most committed by the victim’s current or former partner.
Living ‘Faith with Courage’
Pope Leo became the first pontiff in nearly four decades to visit Uruguay, seeking to remind an increasingly secular nation of its Catholic identity.
“We must live our faith with courage and not be afraid to say: I am a Christian, I am a Catholic, I believe in Jesus Christ,” the Pope said before at least 50,000 worshippers gathered outside the Cathedral of Florida.
“The people of Uruguay are capable of great things,” he added. “What we have received and offer freely through the grace of God multiplies, opens new horizons, and enriches our lives, granting them new meaning.”
In his homily, the Holy Father also addressed the attack in Krakow, saying he was “deeply saddened.”
Next Stop: Argentina
On Sunday evening, the pope landed in Buenos Aires, where Argentine President Javier Milei welcomed him at the Casa Rosada.
The visit is not without political controversy. The Catholic Church has criticized Milei’s austerity measures, which have slashed social spending, as well as his embrace of artificial intelligence.
Milei has staked his presidency on reducing social spending to overhaul Argentina’s troubled economy and achieve a long-elusive budget surplus.
He has denounced social justice as “an aberration” akin to theft, and dismissed as “sheer stupidity” the growing complaint among Argentines that families strained by his austerity program cannot make ends meet.
For Argentine Catholics, however, the visit holds profound spiritual significance, as Leo follows in the footsteps of his predecessor, Francis—born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, an Argentine native—who died on Easter Monday, 2025.