# Pope Leo calls on Uruguay’s Catholics to be ‘bridge builders’

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/pope-leo-calls-on-uruguays-catholics-to-be-bridge-builders/
- Published: 2026-11-07T14:59:30+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-07T15:27:32+00:00
- Original publisher: France 24 (publisher lean: Centre)
- Original article: https://www.france24.com/en/pope-leo-calls-on-uruguay-catholics-bridge-builders
- Topics: Health, Medicine, World

## Key points

- Pope Leo urged Uruguay’s Catholics to share their faith and build bridges.
- He praised mate as a tradition that brings people together.
- Catholic identification in Latin America fell from 80 to 55 per cent.

## Summary

Pope Leo XIV urged Catholics in Uruguay to become “bridge builders” who share their faith, during the second day of his South American tour. His visit comes as Catholic identification across Latin America has declined, and Uruguay is among the region’s most secular countries.

At a mass in Paysandú, Leo praised mate, the herbal drink commonly shared in Uruguay, saying it encourages togetherness. The 71-year-old pope is on a 12-day tour, three weeks after surgery for lung cancer; a Latinobarómetro poll found that the share of Latin Americans identifying as Catholic fell from 80 per cent to 55 per cent in 30 years. He is due to travel to Argentina and Peru, after advocating universal healthcare and support for people nearing the end of life during an earlier speech in Montevideo.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.