APTOPIX Uruguay Pope

Pope Leo XIV urged an estimated 40,000 people in Uruguay on Saturday to build bridges of fraternity and faith. He used his first Mass in South America to deliver an ode to the region’s beloved mate tea and raise the profile of the Catholic Church in the region’s most secular country. Leo was celebrating Mass in Paysandú, on Uruguay's western border with Argentina. His aim in Uruguay is to urge the people in this overwhelmingly secular country with a population of 3.5 million to look to the Catholic faith for strength in confronting today’s problems and challenges.