Only a week remains until Pope Leo XIVʼs arrival in Uruguay, and anticipation is growing among locals: For many, it will be their first experience of this kind, while others recall the visit of St. John Paul II in 1987, the last time a pontiff visited the country.
The date is not just another day on the calendar: The Holy Fatherʼs visit to Uruguay coincides with the feast day of the country’s patroness, Our Lady of the Thirty-Three, a figure deeply rooted in the spirituality and history of the most secular republic in the region.
Between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Uruguay experienced an unusually harsh process of separating church and state, which is why there are officially no religious holidays or symbols in public institutions. In Uruguay, presidents do not take their oath of office on the Bible, there are no chaplains for the armed forces, Holy Week is referred to as “Tourism Week,” and Christmas is called “Family Day.”
Nevertheless, in anticipation of the pope’s arrival, the Church and the state are currently working side by side and with “great expectation” to welcome him and to offer the best possible experience, explained the archbishop of Montevideo, Cardinal Daniel Sturla, during a conference titled “Pope Leo XIV’s Visit to South America,” organized by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN International).
In a continent with a strong Catholic presence, the cardinal acknowledged, “Uruguay is the exception, a country that has experienced intense secularization for over 100 years.”
Citing data from the latest survey, while noting that survey results should be viewed with some caution, Sturla explained that “only 33% of Uruguayans identify as Catholic; 28% believe in God but do not belong to any specific church or religion; 11% follow other religions; and 28% are agnostics or atheists.” These figures “set it apart from the rest of Latin America,” he observed.
However, he described Uruguayan society as “pluralistic and democratic,” with 3.5 million inhabitants, nearly half of whom live in the city of Montevideo.
In Uruguay, “the Church has freedom of action,” he acknowledged. “Although it has often been sidelined, there are high expectations; in fact, the current president of Uruguay himself traveled to Rome and extended an invitation to Pope Leo to come and visit us,” he noted.
When addressing the reasons for the country’s extensive secularization, he acknowledged that there are several, some rooted in history, among other factors, and noted that this process “has taken deep root among the population; it has been very intense and has left its mark on Uruguayan culture.” Nevertheless, he observed that, within this context, “the Church proclaims Jesus Christ and maintains a presence throughout the entire national territory.”
A Church that works tirelessly
“I like to say that in this context, the Church in Uruguay ‘keeps on rowing,’ [works tirelessly]. It is a Church that I describe as poor and free, small and beautiful,” he noted.
In Uruguay, “being a priest is not, let’s put it this way, a badge of honor; ambition is not involved. Rather, it is a service rendered with great simplicity. It’s not necessarily a position of prestige simply by virtue of being a priest, but rather through how he lives his life and his self-giving,” he explained.
“We await the pope with great affection, while also working, as I mentioned, in coordination with the state,” he said, noting that the visit “will have a civic dimension, but it will be, above all, a pastoral visit.”
One aspect of the visit that the cardinal said he finds particularly beautiful is that “in Montevideo, the pope will visit a very needy, impoverished neighborhood, the area with the highest concentration of the Catholic Church’s presence in the entire country,” he said, referring to the Borro neighborhood, located in the Casavalle basin.
“There, in the parish that the pope will visit [Our Lady of Guadalupe] within an area spanning just a few blocks, a few hundred meters, there are around 20 Catholic initiatives, including parishes and chapels, but above all social projects that address issues such as housing, education, care for the elderly, and vocational training,” he enumerated. “In other words, there is a very tangible, very vibrant reality.”
In Uruguay, Sturla noted, “there is an expectation that extends beyond the 33% who are Catholic. Surveys indicate that 60% of Uruguayans are very hopeful about the pope’s visit; there is virtually no opposition to it — on the contrary, there is a desire to welcome him in the best way possible.”
This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
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