Pope Leo urges South America to bridge divides on Uruguay-Argentina border

“It's a very important event. Being here creates a very uplifting energy," said Mariano Méndez, 36, who had travelled across the river from Buenos Aires to see Leo. "The fact that he has come to visit Latin America truly fills your heart.

It's a beautiful feeling to come here, to visit Paysandu, and to see the Pope,” he said. The 71-year-old pontiff, who is making one of the most intense foreign trips by a Catholic leader in decades less than a month after undergoing lung cancer surgery, urged people in Latin America to act with "justice, honesty and faithfulness" towards one another.

Leo, the first US-born pope, ⁠is visiting Uruguay until Sunday on the first stop of a tour that will also take him to Argentina and Peru. The Vatican has described the trip as a "homecoming" for Leo, who served as a missionary in Peru for decades and became a Peruvian citizen.

The pope, who has forcefully decried the direction of global leadership in recent months, is expected to address a range ⁠of issues facing the continent on the tour, including environmental destruction, arms trafficking and regional political instability.

In his first address of the trip, given to Uruguay's government on Friday afternoon, he urged South American countries to tackle regional issues together and set an example ⁠for international cooperation. Leo will return to Montevideo on Saturday afternoon for several events, including a night-time prayer vigil expected to draw some 60,000 young people.

On Sunday afternoon the pope heads to Argentina, where he will meet and ⁠give a speech to President Javier Milei, a libertarian seen as a close ally of US President Donald Trump, who lambasted Leo earlier this year after the pope criticized the Iran war.