Daniel del Castillo González
For more than three decades, this park in Paysandú was known as the municipal zoo. But today, more than 30,000 people have gathered here for Pope Leo XIV’s first Mass in Latin America.
The pope dedicated the Mass to Blessed Jacinto Vera, Uruguay’s first bishop. He traveled across the country on horseback three times, visiting communities and caring for the sick.
Paysandu is a region that sits along the border with Argentina. The pope used the bridge connecting the two countries as a metaphor for the Church’s mission.
POPE LEO XIV
In this city of Paysandú stands the General Artigas International Bridge, which crosses the Uruguay River and connects two neighboring countries. It’s easy to imagine the benefits a bridge brings: openness, communication and exchange. That’s why building bridges is so important! It is the calling we all share: to build bridges, strengthen bonds, unite, communicate and share the joy of faith, as Blessed Jacinto did, ‘in season and out of season.’
The bridge has now given way to a much more familiar symbol for Uruguayans: mate tea, which is also a ritual for the Charrúa people.
POPE LEO XIV
Mate has also arrived in Rome. Mate is a sign of familiarity, friendship and fellowship. It teaches us to share and spend time together, to strengthen the bonds that unite us as brothers and sisters. It is a sign of welcome, inclusion and shared values. Drinking mate is a ritual rich in symbolism, where people communicate without words and every detail has its own meaning. I also think of those moments when people drink mate alone, in silence and prayer. In those moments of solitude, how many of you have entrusted your worries and needs, your deepest wishes and hopes, to God?
The message reaches a Church operating in one of Latin America’s most secularized countries. Uruguay formally separated the Church and State in 1919.
That is why the pope has also stressed the importance of passing on the faith to younger generations. Like the bridges of Paysandú, the Church must connect with society rather than remain isolated.
