Pope Leo draws more than 30,000 in Paysandú for his first Mass in South America

Thousands of people gathered in the city of Paysandú, Uruguay, on Saturday (November 7) for Pope Leo XIV's first Mass in South America. No pope had ever visited this city on the Uruguay River before.

More than 30,000 people had registered to attend the Mass at the sprawling green space called Parque París Londres. Among them were citizens of Uruguay as well as many who had come from neighbouring Argentina and Brazil.

As the gates opened at 5:30 a.m., faithful in rain ponchos began streaming into the field, many wearing the Vatican's yellow colours, while a band played popular Spanish hymns.

Paysandú lies about 375 kilometres (230 miles) from the capital, Montevideo. The Mass opened the first major programme of the pope's 12-day, three-nation South American tour, which had been in doubt after he underwent lung cancer surgery on October 13.

Soledad Sánchez, 73, who had driven to Paysandú from northern Uruguay, said the pope is the representative of Christ but he is also human. She said they were not sure if he could make it, but he pushed through for them, her eyes filling with tears. She said he came to give a message of peace because he knows the world needs it right now.

Uruguay, with a population of 3.5 million, is the region's most secular country. The pope arrived in the country on Friday. He is seeking to urge its people to turn to the Catholic faith for strength in confronting today's problems and challenges.

Later on Saturday the pope was to tour a Montevideo neighbourhood beset by drug trafficking and gang violence, where the church is working with municipal authorities to build housing and provide rehabilitation programmes for addicts.

His final event of the day was a prayer vigil in Montevideo's Centenary Stadium, where he was also expected to call people to reject religious indifference and embrace the faith.

At an evening vespers service on Friday in Montevideo's cathedral, the pope acknowledged that many people here do not even know about the faith or its heritage, which is intrinsically tied to Uruguay's independence and nationhood. The Catholic Church had no new seminarians in 2024, though a few have since entered training for the priesthood.

Addressing seminarians, priests and bishops, the pope said: "One of the secrets of evangelization is to resemble the one whom we proclaim." He said that in this land, where many of our contemporaries barely know Jesus Christ and so many young people have grown up far from the life of the Church, that witness has a special power.

Paysandú, in western Uruguay, sits just across a bridge from the eastern Argentine city of Colón. That made it easier to reach for many Argentines than any of the other stops on the tour. After Uruguay, the pope will visit Argentina — Buenos Aires, Luján and Córdoba — before heading to Peru, his second homeland, where the tour will end.

Luciana Lobato, 20, an Argentine tour agent, organised buses carrying 180 pilgrims from across the border. She said Argentina is a much more religious country than Uruguay, and there is a desire to be here to witness something historic.

Teresa Sabellini, 18, from Paysandú, said many young people in her town are really interested in religion and are trying to find meaning and community in difficult moments. She said: look around, this place is full of people.

Santiago Biglieri, 18, a Colombian who lives in Uruguay, said he would not call himself religious, but he likes this pope. He said the pope has a really good message for humanity, and even for nonbelievers there is something to take from his ideas.

Saturday's Mass was dedicated to Blessed Jacinto Vera, a 19th-century priest who became Uruguay's first bishop. On Friday the pope praised him as a pastor who travelled the country's roads to help the poor, saying that people who met him found something of Christ's goodness even before he preached.

Still, Paysandú itself greeted the pope quietly, as though it were an ordinary weekend, with scant decorations and only a few homes seen flying Vatican flags.