Crowds greet pope as Leo XIV arrives in Uruguay for south american tour weeks after cancer surgery

Arrival in Montevideo

Leo arrived in Uruguay on Friday after a nearly 14-hour flight from Rome. The 71-year-old pope told reporters he was happy to be there and said he had been convinced from the beginning that the trip should go ahead.

He was greeted by large crowds as he rode through Montevideo in an open-sided popemobile. The Vatican put attendance at about 30,000 for his arrival and first event.

Message to Uruguayans

At a gathering in Montevideo’s main square, Leo called for respect for the law, negotiation and patient efforts to reach agreements. He said these could help Uruguay serve its neighbors when differences risk becoming sources of conflict.

President Yamandu Orsi, who leads a center-left alliance, attended the event. Leo is also planning to visit Casavalle, a neighborhood known for high poverty and violence.

A rare papal visit

Leo will spend three days in Uruguay before traveling to Argentina on Sunday. The visit is the first by a pope to Uruguay since John Paul II went there in 1988.

Uruguay is the most secular country in Latin America. It legalized recreational marijuana, abortion, same-sex marriage and assisted dying, despite Catholic Church opposition. Tickets for Leo’s prayer vigil at Montevideo’s Centenario Stadium sold out in two days.

Tour continues to Argentina

After Uruguay, Leo is due to visit Argentina, the home country of his predecessor, Pope Francis. Francis never returned there as pope, disappointing his compatriots. Leo will then travel to Peru, where he spent half of his life as a priest. He became a naturalized Peruvian citizen in 2015, before his election as pope last year. Latin America is home to about 40% of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, though fewer people in the region identify as Catholic.