Pope Leo Celebrates First Mass in South America Before 40,000 in Paysandu, Uruguay

Pope Leo celebrated his first Mass in South America on Saturday, November 7, at Parque Paris Londres in Paysandu, Uruguay, before around 40,000 faithful. Local authorities confirmed the crowd figure, and Reuters put the attendance at the same 40,000. Many of the faithful had waited overnight in the rain on the Uruguay and Argentina border before the Mass.

Leo was the first pope to visit Paysandu. The riverside city sits on the Uruguay River, and the Vatican chose it as the location for his first Mass in South America because it is accessible to pilgrims across the region. Leo travelled about 750 km back and forth from Montevideo to Paysandu for the day.

The day in Paysandu

The Holy See Press Office set out the schedule in its bulletin. Leo left Montevideo at 08:37 local time and landed in Paysandu at 09:38. He presided over the Eucharistic Celebration at Parque Paris Londres at 10:20. He then returned to Montevideo, where he arrived at 13:29 local time.

In his homily, Leo urged the faithful to bridge their differences. "It is not difficult to imagine the benefits a bridge brings: openness, communication and exchange. That is why it is so important to be builders of bridges," he said. He returned to the same point later in the homily. "This is the vocation to which we are all called: to build bridges, strengthen bonds, unite, communicate," Leo said.

A 12-day tour

The Paysandu Mass was part of a 12-day, three-country tour that runs through November 17 and takes in Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. Leo, the first US-born pope, is visiting Uruguay until Sunday. He made the trip less than a month after lung cancer surgery.

His Saturday in Uruguay was not finished when he returned to Montevideo. He was scheduled for further events in the capital on Saturday afternoon, including a visit to the Casavalle neighbourhood and a night-time prayer vigil expected to draw some 60,000 young people. Leo wraps up his Uruguay visit on Sunday morning and heads to Argentina on Sunday afternoon, the second country of the tour, before Peru.

For Paysandu, the day stands on its own. A city that no pope had visited before hosted the first Mass of the tour in South America, and around 40,000 people stood in a park by the river to be there, many of them after a night spent waiting in the rain.