Faith

Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass for 40,000 in Paysandú on his South America tour

Paysandú, Uruguay • November 7, 2026 • By Press Pass USA

Pope Leo XIV greets crowds in Montevideo, Uruguay, on Nov. 6, 2026, at the start of his South America tour

Photo: Natacha Pisarenko / AP

Pope Leo XIV celebrated an open-air Mass for around 40,000 people in Paysandú, Uruguay, on Saturday, capping a day of huge crowds on the second leg of his 12-day tour of South America — his first visit to the continent since his election, and his longest journey as pope.

The 71-year-old pontiff flew from Montevideo to Paysandú on Saturday morning, departing at 8:37 a.m. local time and landing just over an hour later, according to the Vatican. He toured among the faithful in an open car on arrival at the Parque París Londres, where he presided over the Eucharistic celebration at 10:20 a.m. Local authorities confirmed the presence of around 40,000 faithful at the Mass.

After the Mass, the pope stopped briefly at the Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Rosario for a moment of prayer, then signed the Book of Honour of the city of Paysandú and received a gift from the mayor before flying back to Montevideo in the early afternoon. In his homily, he pointed to the city itself as a symbol of connection: Paysandú is home to the General Artigas International Bridge, which spans the Uruguay River, uniting two neighbouring countries.

The Mass was the centrepiece of a packed Saturday. Back in Montevideo, the pope was scheduled to visit the Casavalle neighbourhood, meet university authorities and figures from the education sector at the Catholic University of Uruguay, and lead a prayer vigil at the Estadio Centenario in the evening. On Sunday he travels to Florida, about 100 kilometres from the capital, to celebrate Mass in front of the Cathedral Basilica and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Thirty-Three, the patron saint of Uruguay.

Leo arrived in Montevideo on Friday after a flight of more than 13 hours from Rome, opening a three-nation tour that will also take him to Argentina and Peru. The Vatican estimated 30,000 people had turned out to watch him go by and attend his first event, and crowds chanted "Pope Leo, Uruguay is with you!" as he passed in his open-sided popemobile. He was formally welcomed by President Yamandu Orsi at the Plaza Independencia, then presided over an evening vespers service at the Montevideo cathedral that ended at 9 p.m. local time.

The trip comes just three weeks after surgery on October 13 to remove a cancerous tumour from his right lung, an operation that had put the gruelling journey into question. On board the papal plane, Leo acknowledged that "some people" had doubted whether he could make it. "I confess that from the first day, I had no doubt and was convinced that this trip had to go forward," he told reporters. He credited his quick recovery to "trusting God, good doctors, good surgeons, and overall I think a healthy lifestyle" — and, asked if he felt as good as he looked, quipped: "Maybe better."

In his remarks to President Orsi, delivered in Spanish, Leo praised Uruguay's development but gently recalled its Catholic heritage, urging the country to let faith help confront today's challenges — a key aim of his three-day visit. He insisted the state was obliged to care for its people, young and old, a veiled reference to Uruguay's permissive abortion policies and its 2025 legalisation of assisted dying, both of which run counter to Catholic teaching. "It is everyone's responsibility to ensure that each person can live with dignity, receive the care they need, and be accompanied until the natural end of his or her life," he said.

Uruguay is the most secular country in Latin America, a region home to around 40% of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics — yet only a fraction of Uruguayans who identify as Catholic attend Mass regularly. The last pope to visit Uruguay was St John Paul II in 1988. After Uruguay, Leo heads to Argentina and finally Peru, where he spent two decades as a missionary bishop, before returning to Rome on November 17.

Sources: Holy See Press Office, "Apostolic Journey of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru (6 – 17 November 2026) – Departure from Montevideo and arrival in Paysandú, Holy Mass in the 'Parque París Londres'" (Nov. 7, 2026, full text verified); AP, "Crowds cheer Pope as Leo arrives in Uruguay for start of South American tour" (Nov. 7, 2026, full text verified via Glasgow Times). Event date verified: Holy Mass in Paysandú, Saturday, November 7, 2026. Attendance figure (~40,000) as confirmed by local authorities via the Vatican.