Pope Leo XIV made a stop this Sunday, November 8, at the parish of Santa Teresita del Niño Jesús in Juanicó (Canelones department) during his final day in Uruguay. The Pope entered the church for a moment of prayer and then greeted some 2,000 faithful gathered in the atrium, marking the first parish in the country dedicated to the saint following her canonization.
The visit took place in the morning, on the road trip from Montevideo to the city of Florida, where he later presided over the Mass for the feast of Our Lady of the Thirty-Three, which concluded his stay in the country. Before bidding farewell, he imparted the apostolic blessing to those present, their families, and the rosaries and devotional objects they had brought with them.
The «great devotion» of the Pope’s family
Pope Leo XIV was visibly moved by the family memory the place evoked. Speaking without notes, he explained that in his home, and particularly his father, Louis Prevost, held a deep devotion to Saint Thérèse. He described the visit as «a moment of gratitude and an opportunity to recognize that God’s grace and love are always with us», even in joy, suffering, illness, and difficulties.
The Pope urged those present to grow in faith and to live it with courage. «Do not be afraid to say: I am Christian, I am Catholic, I believe in Jesus Christ», he exhorted. He also recalled that following Jesus means serving others, walking together in unity, seeking God’s presence, and sharing the joy of being Christian.
A call to Catholic identity in the most secular country in the region
The words spoken in Juanicó gain significance in a country often described as the most secularized in Latin America, and they align with the tone of other interventions by the Pope during these days in Uruguay. That same Sunday, in his homily in Florida, Pope Leo XIV spoke about the transmission of faith within the family and the example of parents before God.
The reference to his father is not new on this trip. InfoVaticana had already reported that Pope Leo XIV allocated his father’s inheritance to the foundations of a church in Peru, the country he is now heading to after passing through Argentina. The parish of Juanicó, along Route 5, was not among the major events on the program, but it became one of the most personal stops of the visit.