By Karim Hammam
Pope Leo XIV arrived in Uruguay on Friday to begin a 12-day, three-nation tour of South America, less than four weeks after undergoing surgery to remove the lower lobe of his right lung following a cancer diagnosis in October.
The 71-year-old pontiff's visit marks the first papal trip to Uruguay in nearly 40 years, since Pope John Paul II traveled there in 1988. Uruguay is regarded as Latin America's most secular country.
President Yamandú Orsi welcomed Leo at Carrasco International Airport after a nearly 14-hour flight from Rome. Church bells rang across the nation, and spectators gathered along Montevideo's waterfront route beneath overcast skies as the open-sided popemobile carried the pope into the capital.
Health and Stamina
Vatican communications chief María Montserrat Alvarado said the pope has passed the 14-day convalescence period required by doctors after his Oct. 13 surgery and is eager to travel. “His stamina is fantastic. The way that he's singing is incredible. And you can only sing if your lungs are really strong,” she said, adding that his doctors are confident and he will have medical care on board.
Uruguay's Secular Tradition
Uruguay's secularism has roots in its colonial history; with no gold or silver to mine, Spain left the territory largely unsettled, and the Catholic Church never became the powerful institution it was elsewhere in the empire. Only a fraction of the 3.5 million people who identify as Catholic attend Mass regularly. The country has legalized marijuana, decriminalized abortion, legalized same-sex marriage, and recently approved assisted dying legislation despite church opposition.
Itinerary and Symbolism
During his three days in Uruguay, the pope will visit a neighborhood troubled by gang violence and lead Masses in Paysandú, about 375 kilometres from Montevideo, and in Florida, roughly 100 kilometres from the capital. On Sunday in Florida, he will mark the Nov. 8 feast of the Virgin of the Thirty-three, a wooden icon linked to Uruguay's 1825 independence declaration. The tour will continue to Argentina, the homeland of the late Pope Francis, and conclude in Peru, where Leo holds citizenship and served as a missionary and bishop for two decades.
Reactions and Expectations
Tickets for Leo's prayer vigil at Montevideo's Centenario Stadium sold out within two days, surprising church officials. “It seems that the pope’s presence is shifting something here and is gradually breaking down this veil that has always sought to obscure and diminish the presence of the Catholic tradition that lies at the country’s foundation,” said Guzmán Carriquiry, former head of the Vatican’s pontifical commission for Latin America. However, expert Andrew Chesnut cautioned that enthusiasm may not translate into increased church attendance, calling Uruguay a “lost cause” for Catholic revitalization.
