PESANDU, Uruguay (AP) — An estimated 40,000 people flocked to a Uruguay riverside city on Saturday to attend Pope Leo XIV’s first Mass in South America as the pontiff sought to boost the image of the Catholic Church in Uruguay, the region’s most secular country.
The crowd in the stadium erupted in chants of “Olé, olé, olé, olé, Pope, Pope!” as Leo’s plane landed in Paysandu, in western Uruguay on the border with Argentina. They cheered again, blowing trumpets and waving yellow handkerchiefs as he arrived in an open-top papal car at the site of Mass in Paris’s Parc de London, a vast green space on the southern edge of Paysandu.
More than 30,000 people, many from Uruguay but also from neighboring Argentina and Brazil, registered in advance for the ceremony, some 375 kilometers (230 miles) from the capital, Montevideo. The Vatican said on Saturday that 10,000 people showed up despite rain and gray skies in the morning.
This is the first Mass of Leo’s three-country tour of South America after the 71-year-old American pope underwent lung cancer surgery on October 13.
When the doors opened at 5:30 a.m., a throng of raincoat-clad worshipers, many of them wearing the Vatican’s yellow raincoats, began streaming into the venue as a band played popular Spanish hymns. Some in the crowd said they were moved by Leo’s insistence on completing his ambitious 12-date tour despite his recent cancer diagnosis.
“He was a representative of Christ, but he was also human. We were not sure if he would make it, but he came through for us,” said Soledad Sánchez, 73, her eyes filled with tears as she drove from northern Uruguay to Paysandu. “He came here to give us a message of peace because he knew our world needed peace right now.”
Leo, who arrived in Uruguay on Friday and spent an intense afternoon and evening of events, is seeking to urge people in South America’s most secular nation of 3.5 million to turn to their Catholic faith for strength to face the problems and challenges of the day.
Later Saturday, he will drive the message home by touring a Montevideo neighborhood plagued by drug trafficking and gang violence, where churches are working with municipalities to build housing and provide rehabilitation programs for drug users.
His last event was also likely to drive home the call to reject religious indifference and embrace faith: a prayer vigil at Montevideo’s Centenario Stadium.
Speaking at Friday’s evening Vespers service in Montevideo’s cathedral, Leo admitted that many people here are not even aware of a faith or its traditions that are intrinsically linked to Uruguay’s independence and statehood. For example, the Catholic Church will have no new seminarians in Uruguay until 2024, although some are already training for the priesthood.
Leo told seminarians, priests, and bishops to follow the example of Christ in order to attract believers.
Montevideo, Uruguay – November 6: (Editor’s note: For editorial use only – not for promotion). During his official visit to Uruguay, Pope Leo XIV arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay, on November 6, 2026, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Philip and St. James, where he greeted the faithful and was welcomed by percussion musicians. (Photo by Simone Risoluti – Vatican Media, Vatican Pool/Getty Images)
“One of the secrets of evangelism is to be like what we preach,” Leo said. “In a land where many of our contemporaries barely know Jesus Christ and where many young people have grown up far removed from church life, witnesses have a special power.”
Paisandu is located in the west of Uruguay, just across the bridge from the eastern Argentine city of Colon. For many Argentines, it is easier to reach Paisando than any other stop on Bilio’s tour of Argentina, his next stop after Uruguay.
In Argentina, Leo will visit Buenos Aires, Luján and Córdoba before heading to Peru, his second home and final destination of the trip.
“Argentina is a more religious country than Uruguay, and people are eager to come here and witness something historic,” said Luciana Lobato, a 20-year-old Argentine travel agent who organized the busload of 180 pilgrims from across the border.
MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY – NOVEMBER 6: Pope Leo XIV waves to faithful and pilgrims after a welcome ceremony in Plaza Matriz as part of his official visit to Uruguay on November 6, 2026 in Montevideo, Uruguay. Pope Leo XIV made his first trip to South America, a 10-day visit to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. (Photo by Enzo Santos/MB Media/Getty Images)
Some young Catholics involved in local church groups hope the sight of the pope drawing crowds will challenge Uruguay’s image as a country that is indifferent to religion.
“The reality I see in town is that there are a lot of young people who are really interested in religion and trying to find meaning and community in difficult times,” said Teresa Sabellini, 18, from Paysandu.
“Now look here. This place is packed with people,” she added.
Still, Paysandu greeted the pope quietly, as if it were an ordinary weekend, with few decorations and only a handful of houses displaying Vatican flags.
Saturday’s Mass was dedicated to Blessed Jacinto Vera, a 19th-century priest who later became Uruguay’s first bishop. On Friday, Leo praised him as a pastor who traveled the country to help the poor and said people who met him “discovered the goodness of Christ” before he ever preached.
Some young attendees on Saturday said Leo’s humane tone and emphasis on care for the vulnerable resonated beyond believers in their secular country as people grapple with a turbulent world.
“I wouldn’t call myself religious, but I like this pope. He has a very good message for humanity,” said Santiago Biglieri, an 18-year-old Colombian living in Uruguay. “Even for nonbelievers, there’s something to be learned from his ideas.”