Pope Leo XIV’s Longest Trip Yet: What to Know About Uruguay, Argentina and Peru

A long-awaited Latin America journey

Leo’s visit returns him to the continent where he learned pastoral work and spent two decades as a missionary. Peru is described as his second homeland. About 40% of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics live in Latin America. Yet the Catholic share of the population has declined in recent years, particularly in the three countries on Leo’s itinerary.

Faith and identity in Uruguay

The first leg is in Uruguay, where church and state have long been separate. Christmas is officially called Family Day, while Holy Week is known as Tourism Week.

Vatican figures say nearly 77% of Uruguay’s 3.5 million residents are baptized Catholics. More than half of the population identifies as having no religious affiliation, the highest proportion in Latin America, and regular Mass attendance among Catholics is limited.

Leo is due to attend a welcome ceremony at Montevideo’s Plaza Independencia, which honors national history and features a monument to independence leader José Gervasio Artigas. On Nov. 8, he will mark the feast of the Virgin of the Thirty-three, Uruguay’s patron and a symbol linked to the country’s independence story.

Stops beyond Montevideo

In Casavalle, a poor neighborhood on Montevideo’s outskirts affected by drug trafficking and gang violence, Leo will visit a parish involved in local support programs. These include housing projects and addiction recovery work with national and municipal authorities.

He is also scheduled to celebrate Mass in Paysandú, about 375 kilometers from the capital. The location offers access to people north of the Río Negro and is near the Argentine city of Colón.

The Uruguay visit is expected to connect Catholic heritage with the country’s secular national identity. The itinerary includes references to independence as well as religious tradition.

Argentina’s legacy and economic concerns

In Argentina, Leo’s visit will unfold amid a divided legacy of Pope Francis, formerly Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Leo is set to honor his predecessor at Buenos Aires’ cathedral and visit the federal prison where Bergoglio ministered to inmates.

Leo will meet President Javier Milei, who once described Francis as “the representative of evil on Earth” and later apologized. Argentine church leaders have criticized Milei’s spending cuts, citing reduced disability funding and concerns that economic policy is taking priority over poor people’s needs.

At the Don Orione care home in Claypole, south of Buenos Aires, Leo will encounter an institution serving more than 400 people with disabilities. The home says it faces severe financial problems linked to cuts, outdated rates, inflation and delayed state payments; meetings at the Argentine Catholic University will also address unemployment, poverty and household purchasing power.