An estimated 40,000 people gathered in Paysandú, Uruguay, on Saturday for Pope Leo XIV’s first Mass in South America, a show of public devotion in a country widely regarded as the region’s most secular.
More than 30,000 people had registered in advance for the service, held in the Parque París Londres roughly 375 kilometers from the capital, Montevideo. The Vatican said another 10,000 showed up without registering, despite morning rain and gray skies. Attendees traveled from Argentina and Brazil as well as across Uruguay.
The Mass was the opening event of a 12-day, three-nation tour that had been in doubt after the 71-year-old American pope underwent lung cancer surgery on Oct. 13. Crowds began arriving when gates opened at 5:30 a.m., many wearing yellow in a nod to the Vatican and waving handkerchiefs as a band played hymns.
“He’s the representative of Christ but he’s human. And we weren’t sure if he could make it, but he pushed through for us,” said Soledad Sánchez, 73, who drove from northern Uruguay. “He made it here to give us a message of peace because he knows our world needs it right now.”
Uruguay has a population of 3.5 million and, according to the church, had no new seminarians in 2024, though a small number have since entered priesthood training. At a Friday vespers service in Montevideo’s cathedral, Leo told seminarians, priests and bishops that attracting the faithful requires modeling themselves on Christ.
“One of the secrets of evangelization is to resemble the one whom we proclaim,” Leo said. “In this land, where many of our contemporaries barely know Jesus Christ and so many young people have grown up far from the life of the Church, that witness has a special power.”
Later Saturday, Leo planned to tour a Montevideo neighborhood affected by drug trafficking and gang violence, where the church works with city authorities on housing and addiction rehabilitation programs. His day was set to close with a prayer vigil at Montevideo’s Centenary Stadium.
Paysandú sits across a bridge from the Argentine city of Colón, making it an easier destination for many Argentine visitors than stops on the Argentine leg of Leo’s trip. Luciana Lobato, 20, a tour agent, organized buses carrying 180 pilgrims across the border.
“Argentina is a much more religious country than Uruguay, and there’s this desire to be here to witness something historic,” Lobato said.
Leo’s itinerary continues to Buenos Aires, Luján and Córdoba in Argentina before concluding in Peru, where he previously served as a missionary and bishop.
Despite the turnout at the Mass site, Paysandú itself showed little outward sign of the visit, with few decorations and only scattered homes flying Vatican flags.
The Mass honored Blessed Jacinto Vera, a 19th-century priest and Uruguay’s first bishop, whom Leo on Friday praised as a pastor who traveled the country’s roads to aid the poor. Some younger attendees, including non-Catholics, said Leo’s emphasis on compassion resonated regardless of personal faith.
“I wouldn’t call myself religious, but I like this pope. He has a really good message for humanity,” said Santiago Biglieri, 18, a Colombian living in Uruguay. “Even for the nonbelievers, there’s something to take from his ideas.”
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