Pope Leo XIV arrived in Montevideo on Friday, launching his first apostolic tour of Latin America with a journey that will carry him through Uruguay, Argentina and Peru over the coming week.

Pope Leo XIV chose Uruguay for the opening act of his first Latin American journey, delivering a message that placed negotiation and legal respect above confrontation.

Speaking Friday from Plaza Independencia, before civil society representatives, the diplomatic corps and local authorities, he presented the small South American nation as a model for a region where divisions can harden quickly.

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Uruguay’s Constitution commits the country to promoting international understanding, and the Pontiff connected that founding principle to the nation’s present conduct. The fact that Montevideo serves as the seat of the MERCOSUR Secretariat, he said, “gives particular concreteness to that vocation of fostering spaces of understanding and cooperation in the region.”

His central appeal was unmistakable. “In times when differences can easily become a cause of confrontation, persevering in respect for the law, in negotiation and in the patient search for agreements is a service that Uruguay can continue to offer its neighbors,” Pope Leo declared.

The reference to MERCOSUR carried considerable weight. As the headquarters of South America’s main integration bloc, Montevideo sits at the center of the continent’s trade and diplomatic architecture, a position the Pope framed as both legacy and responsibility.

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Dialogue and Consensus

President Yamandú Orsi received the pontiff at Carrasco International Airport after his arrival at 4:20 P
.M. local time aboard an Ita Airways flight from Rome. The two leaders then held a private meeting following the official welcome ceremony.

Orsi highlighted Uruguay’s secular tradition, its democratic institutions and the diversity of convictions within its society. He thanked the Holy See for its posture on human rights and the defense of human dignity.

“We share and accompany your unwavering stance in favor of the peaceful resolution of conflicts. Our commitment to dialogue and consensus, which governs our attitude at home, is what Uruguayans always promote in international organizations,” the Uruguayan President said.

He went further, warning that “scenarios of violence and wars between peoples are not created overnight” but are rather “climates that are prepared and fostered through disinformation and fears.” Governments, he stressed, carry the obligation to propose alternative forms of engagement.

The ceremony gathered three former Presidents, Julio María Sanguinetti, Luis Lacalle Herrera and Luis Lacalle Pou, as well as community organizations and a large musical delegation. The National Choir contributed 65 voices, the National Youth Choir 40, the National Children’s Choir another 40, and some 100 musicians from the National Youth Orchestra performed.

As an institutional gift reflecting the country’s rural traditions, the Uruguayan State presented the Pope with a handwoven wool blanket and riding gear. Pope Leo also received the keys to Montevideo and later met with bishops, priests, deacons, religious and seminarians at the Metropolitan Cathedral.

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The visit opens a 12-day journey across Latin America, the first of Leo XIV’s papacy. With his emphasis on negotiation, legal respect and patient consensus-building, the pontiff has signaled the tone he intends to sustain as he travels through the region, Uruguay offered as the example others might follow.

Argentina, Then Peru

In Argentina the itinerary carries political weight. The Pope will meet President Javier Milei at the Government’s House and deliver a speech to national authorities on social justice.

The Argentine program includes a stop at the Don Orione Cottolengo, activities at the Federal Penitentiary Complex, meetings with labor sectors, and liturgies in Córdoba and at the Luján Sanctuary.

On Wednesday, November 11, Pope Leo XIV flies to Lima for what organizers describe as the most significant leg of the tour. The trip marks an emotional return for Robert Prevost, the pontiff’s birth name. He arrived in Peru in 1985 as an Augustinian missionary and served as bishop of Chiclayo for eight years before Pope Francis called him to the Vatican.

In the Andean nation he will lead large events at the National Grand Theater and the National Stadium in Lima, and hold meetings with church communities in Chiclayo and Zaña. The itinerary also reaches Cusco, where he will pray the Angelus at Saqsaywaman.

The final stretch takes him into the Peruvian Amazon, to the city of Pucallpa, for encounters with native people and missionaries. It is a fitting close for a trip built around a return to the region where his ministry began four decades ago.

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