Under clear blue skies, tens of thousands filled Florida's central plaza for Mass — some having walked several kilometers to get there. The city counts roughly 40,000 residents, yet the Vatican put attendance at 50,000.

Leo XIV closed out his Uruguay trip on Sunday with words of praise for the women who have handed the Catholic faith down through generations. His remarks underscored the church's long presence in what is Latin America's most secular nation, tracing back to its founding.

He acknowledged a painful gap: "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." Even so, he told them not to lose heart.

"Mothers and grandmothers: never tire of passing on the faith!"

The pope traveled north of Montevideo to Florida for the final stop of his visit, joining a major local Catholic feast day honoring the Virgin of the Thirty-three.

While honoring the women who carried the faith forward, he also drew attention to gender-based violence and called on men to treat their wives with respect.

His homily took on a problem that weighs heavily across Latin America: nearly 20,000 femicides recorded in the region over the past five years, with most committed by a current or former partner of the victim.

Live 'faith with courage'

Leo became the first pope in almost forty years to set foot in Uruguay. His aim was to remind a country growing ever more secular of its Catholic roots.

We must "live our faith with courage, not be afraid to say: I am a Christian, I am a Catholic, I believe in Jesus Christ," he told the crowd of at least 50,000 gathered outside the Cathedral of Florida.

"The people of Uruguay are capable of great things," he said, adding that "what we have received and offer freely through the grace of God multiplies, opens up horizons and enriches our lives, giving them new meaning."

The pontiff also used the homily to address the attack in Krakow, saying he was "deeply saddened."

After Uruguay, Argentina

The pope touched down in Buenos Aires on Sunday evening, where President Javier Milei welcomed him at the Casa Rosada.

Politics hangs over the trip. Church leaders have condemned Milei's austerity drive, which has cut social spending, as well as his enthusiasm for artificial intelligence.

Milei has built his presidency on slashing social spending to remake Argentina's battered economy and finally produce a budget surplus that has long escaped the country.

He has described social justice as "an aberration" amounting to theft, and dismissed as "huge stupidity" a complaint heard more and more often in Argentina — that families squeezed by his cuts cannot stretch their money to month's end.

For Argentine Catholics, the visit carries deep spiritual weight: Leo is walking a path laid by his predecessor Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Argentina, who died on Easter Monday 2025.

Source: euronews.com