Pope Leo urges South America to bridge divides on Uruguay stop of 12-day tour

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Pope Leo urges an estimated 40,000 people, many of whom waited overnight in the rain on the Uruguay-Argentina border for his visit, to bridge their differences as he toured a region marked by sharp political divisions.

Leo, on an ambitious 12-day, three-country tour through November 17, traveled some 750 km (466 miles) back and forth from Montevideo to Paysandú, a riverside economic hub in Uruguay’s northwest, where crowds gathered in heavy rain that eased shortly before his arrival.

He is the first pope to visit the city on the Uruguay River, chosen by the Vatican as the location for Leo’s first Mass in South America because it is accessible to pilgrims across the region.

The crowd in a sprawling park on the southern edge of the city erupted into cheers and blew loud horns as Leo toured in an open-top popemobile amid blustery winds.

In his sermon, Leo drew inspiration from the nearby General Artigas International Bridge, which connects Uruguay and Argentina.

“It is not difficult to imagine the benefits a bridge brings: openness, communication and exchange. That is why it is so important to be builders of bridges!” he says.

“This is the vocation to which we are all called: to build bridges, strengthen bonds, unite, communicate.”