FLORIDA, Uruguay — Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass at Uruguay’s most prominent Marian shrine on Sunday, where he paid tribute to women’s role in transmitting the Catholic faith and urged them to continue doing so despite secular trends.
“Mothers and grandmothers: never tire of passing on the faith!” Leo told a congregation in the square outside the cathedral of Florida, a city in south-central Uruguay. “Even if your loved ones seem far from God, continue to place them before him. Do not stop blessing them, accompanying them, and simply reminding them of what they once received.”
Uruguay is one of Latin America’s most secular countries, where the majority of people are not affiliated with any organized religion and 28% identity as atheist or agnostic.
The cathedral in Florida houses the Virgin of Thirty-Three, a small wooden sculpture of Mary named for the number of early 19th-century patriots who entrusted their efforts for Uruguay’s independence to her intercession.
Leo noted the history to underscore, as he has done throughout his visit, that Catholicism has deep roots in the country.
The patriots’ “gesture reminds us that the history of peoples, too, cannot be fully understood without reference to God. Thus, from the earliest days of the nation’s founding, Uruguay has been intimately linked to a Mother,” the pope said.
He linked the figure of Mary to the tradition of mothers and grandmothers teaching children how to pray and “live out Christian charity.”
Thanking such women for their efforts, the pope commiserated with them over a widespread decline in religious practice.
“I know that many of you carry a very specific sorrow. 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. You spoke to your grandchildren about God, and now you do not know if those words left a mark. Sometimes you wonder if you did something wrong or if it was all futile,” Leo said.
He encouraged them with the example of St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine, the inspiration for Leo’s religious order, who never despaired of her son’s eventual conversion and sanctity.
The pope also urged fathers and grandfathers to foster faith in the young. “Children learn a great deal by seeing that their father can kneel before God without feeling that he is any less of a man doing it,” he said.
Leo concluded by urging all Uruguayan Catholics to evangelize in their daily lives.
“You must enter people’s homes once more, draw near to them, listen to their questions and bring them to Christ! Each of you knows a person toward whom you need to take that step: perhaps a child, a friend, a neighbor, someone who stopped believing long ago or who has never had anyone close to them to speak to them about God,” the pope said.
At the end of the Mass, Leo placed a golden rose before the image of the Virgin, a traditional papal devotion. But his homily contained a note of caution about veneration of Mary, recalling the Vatican’s decision last year to reject the title of “co-redemptrix” for her as potentially confusing.
There isn’t “one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus,” the pope said, quoting St. Paul. The he added: “All of Mary’s greatness is based on her relationship with Christ: she welcomes him, lives by him, and leads others to him. An encounter with the Master is the goal of all evangelization and of all authentic Marian devotion.”
Silvia, from Uruguay, shared her excitement about serving as a Eucharistic minister at the Mass.
“It truly is a beautiful moment, very, very moving. I’m eager to help people and to be part of this celebration, which belongs to all of us. It is also a privilege to be able to distribute the Eucharist,” she said.
She said being from the city hosting the Holy Father is “a tremendous gift from God,” especially on the feast day of its patroness, Our Lady of the Thirty-Three, celebrated on Nov. 8.
Reflecting on the three days the Holy Father has spent in her country, she recalled the pope’s homily during Mass in Paysandú, in which he encouraged the faithful to be bridges, build communities, and accompany others.
“I think it is a challenge and an invitation that we need in Uruguay,” she said.
Later in the afternoon, the pope is scheduled to depart for Argentina, where he is set to visit the Monument to General San Martín and meet with President Javier Milei.