Pope Leo XIV calls bishops worldwide to prayer and fasting for vocations as South America tour opens in Uruguay
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Montevideo at dusk (editorial illustration)Pope Leo XIV arrived in Montevideo on Friday to open a 12-day tour of South America, and at Vespers in the city's cathedral he urged bishops around the world to promote days of prayer and fasting for vocations — inspired by Uruguay's own turnaround after its inter-diocesan seminary received no new candidates in 2024.
The pope landed at Montevideo's Carrasco airport in the afternoon and was greeted by President Yamandú Orsi and two children bearing flowers. After a welcome ceremony at Plaza Independencia and a meeting with the country's authorities, he received the key to the city from Montevideo's mayor and walked to the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and Saints Philip and James, where he celebrated Evening Prayer with bishops, priests, deacons, religious and seminarians.
Before the service, the pope paused in prayer before the tomb of Blessed Jacinto Vera, the first Bishop of Uruguay, whose remains rest beneath the cathedral's vaults. In his homily, Leo held up Vera as a model of a life shaped by prayer, recalling a religious sister who knew him and said that “just by looking at him, it seemed as though he were always in prayer.”
The heart of the homily was Uruguay's recent experience with vocations. When the inter-diocesan seminary received no new candidates in 2024, Leo said, many of the faithful began gathering for days of prayer and fasting to ask the Lord to send workers into his harvest. They have persevered since, and several young people have now begun their journey in the seminary and in consecrated life.
“I hope that this experience in Uruguay will echo throughout the entire Church,” the pope said. “From this Cathedral in Montevideo, I invite my brother bishops throughout the world to promote days of prayer and fasting in their dioceses for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and to consecrated life. May parishes, families and religious communities unite in this prayer.”
Addressing seminarians and novices directly, he told them to learn intimacy with the Lord from those who have walked the path of self-giving before them. To priests and religious with many years of ministry behind them, he said: “I ask that you always return to what is essential. Cherish the silence of prayer, listening to the word and encountering Christ in the Eucharist.”
The pope also used his first day in the region to appeal for unity. In his address to the authorities, he urged South American countries to tackle regional issues together, opening a tour that is expected to draw millions of people across a Catholic stronghold facing sharp political divisions.
The journey is the longest and most demanding of Leo's pontificate: 12 days, three countries, 10 cities, about 31,000 kilometers (19,000 miles), 14 flights — including two by helicopter — 36 speeches and around 50 events, before he returns to Rome on the morning of November 17. It comes just 24 days after surgery on October 13 to remove the lower lobe of his right lung, where doctors found localized lung adenocarcinoma. The Vatican said this week that the 71-year-old pope has completely healed from the operation and that no special precautions are being taken for the tour.
Uruguay is the most secular country in Latin America, and the visit is the first by a pope since St. John Paul II's in 1988. Leo will spend three days there, visiting Montevideo, Paysandú and Florida, where he will celebrate Mass on November 8 at the National Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Thirty-Three, the date of the annual national pilgrimage to the Marian shrine. He then travels to Argentina on the afternoon of November 8 — where he will meet President Javier Milei — before the final and longest leg in Peru, the country where he served as a missionary priest and bishop for nearly two decades.
Sources: Holy See Press Office, “Celebration of Vespers with Bishops, Priests, Deacons, Men and Women Religious, and Seminarians in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and Saints Philip and James” (Nov. 6, 2026); Reuters, “Pope Leo begins South America 'homecoming' tour with appeal for regional unity” (Nov. 6, 2026); The Associated Press, “After cancer surgery, Pope Leo embarks on Latin America trip” (Nov. 6, 2026); CNN, “Pope Leo's Latin America trip will take him above 11,000 feet, weeks after lung cancer surgery” (Nov. 6, 2026).
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