Pope Leo XIV ends Uruguay visit with tribute to women before heading to Argentina

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday, 8 November, wrapped up his visit to Uruguay, the South American country described as Latin America's most secular. At his final event, in the city of Florida, north of the capital Montevideo, he paid tribute to women who have handed the Catholic faith down within their families. He is the first pope to visit Uruguay in nearly four decades, and the trip was meant to remind an increasingly secular nation of its Catholic identity.

The event in Florida marked a major local Catholic feast day, that of the Virgin of the Thirty-three. In his homily the pope addressed mothers and grandmothers: "You taught your children to pray, and today they no longer do so. You used to attend Mass together, and it has been years since they entered a church." He urged them not to despair and never to tire of passing on the faith.

A call to men

The pope also raised the issue of gender-based violence, calling on men to treat their wives with respect. It is a prominent problem in 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.

At least 50,000 worshippers gathered outside the Cathedral of Florida. The pope encouraged them to live their faith with courage and not be afraid to say they are Christians and Catholics. He added that the people of Uruguay are capable of great things. He also spoke in his homily about 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 presidential palace. The visit carries political tension: the Catholic Church has criticised Milei's austerity measures, which have cut social spending, as well as his embrace of artificial intelligence. Milei has built his presidency on reducing social spending to overhaul Argentina's troubled economy and achieve a budget surplus. He has called social justice "an aberration" that amounts to stealing.

For Argentine Catholics the visit is of great spiritual importance, as Leo reconnects with the path of his predecessor Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, an Argentine by birth, who died on Easter Monday 2025.