The Pope Leo urged on Saturday (7) the population of South America to overcome the divergences between their countries, as he presided over an event on the border between Uruguay and Argentina before tens of thousands of people, during his 12-day trip across the region, which is facing strong political divisions.
Leo, on an ambitious three-country journey that runs until November 17, traveled about 378 km on Saturday, from Montevideo to Paysandú, a riverside economic hub in northwestern Uruguay, where crowds waited all night to see him, under heavy rain that eased slightly just before his arrival. He is the first pope to visit the city.
The 71-year-old pontiff, who is undertaking one of the most intensive international trips by a Catholic leader in recent decades, less than a month after undergoing lung cancer surgery, urged people in Latin America to act with “justice, honesty and fidelity” toward one another.
Leo, the first pope born in the United States, will remain in Uruguay until Sunday, on the first leg of a trip that will also take him to Argentina and Peru. The Vatican described the journey as a “return to origins” for Leo, who served as a missionary in Peru for decades and became a Peruvian citizen.
The pope, who has sharply criticized the course of global leadership in recent months, is expected to address a range of issues affecting the continent during the trip, including environmental destruction, arms trafficking and regional political instability. In his first address of the trip, delivered before the Uruguayan government on Friday afternoon, he urged South American countries to face regional issues together and to set an example in matters of international cooperation.
Leo will return to Montevideo on Saturday afternoon to participate in several events, including a night vigil of prayer that is expected to attract about 60,000 young people.
The pope will head to Argentina on Sunday afternoon, where he will meet with President Javier Milei and deliver a speech. Milei, an libertarian considered a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, harshly criticized Leo earlier this year after the pope spoke out against the Iran war.
(Reporting by Mariana Nedelcu and Yara Nardi in Paysandu)
