Pope Leo XIV began the longest and farthest journey of his papacy this weekend. He landed in Uruguay on Friday, Nov. 6, and on Saturday he told crowds in the river city of Paysandu to build bridges that bring people together. The 12-day trip through Uruguay, Argentina and Peru comes less than a month after the 71-year-old pope had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his right lung.
For Christians watching from the United States, the pope’s message touches an old Bible theme that feels urgent heading toward Thanksgiving: reconciliation, peace and care for every person.
What happened in Uruguay
The papal plane left Rome’s Fiumicino airport Friday morning and landed in Montevideo after a flight of about 13 hours, according to Vatican News and the Associated Press. The AP reported that the Vatican estimated 30,000 people turned out for his arrival and first event. President Yamandú Orsi welcomed him at Montevideo’s Independence Square in blustery weather, and the pope finished the day with an evening prayer service at the city’s cathedral. It is the first papal visit to Uruguay since St. John Paul II went there in 1988.
In his first speech, the pope stressed that society must care for people at every stage of life. The AP quoted him as saying, “It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that each person can live with dignity.” The AP noted that observers read the remark as an indirect reference to Uruguay’s abortion laws and its 2025 assisted-dying law, which the Catholic Church opposes.
On Saturday he celebrated Mass in Paysandu, about 375 kilometers from the capital, Al Jazeera reported. Vatican News said he then stopped to pray at the city’s Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary and St. Benedict of Palermo. Speaking to people in the square outside, he pointed to the bridge that links Uruguay with neighboring Argentina as a picture of what faith can do. “We believe that peace is possible, and we want to build it,” he said, according to Vatican News.
A bridge-builder in a secular country
Uruguay is a fitting first stop for a message about bridges. The AP describes it as Latin America’s most secular country, with about 3.5 million people and few regular Mass-goers, even though Latin America is home to about 40% of the world’s roughly 1.4 billion Catholics. Historians told the AP the country’s colonial church was weak and that 19th-century liberal ideas pushed a strict separation of church and state. Some holidays there were even renamed, with names such as “Family Day” and “Tourism Week.”
Even so, interest in the visit has reached well beyond Catholic circles, Montevideo’s Cardinal Daniel Sturla told Al Jazeera. Tickets for the outdoor Masses sold out quickly. Earlier this fall, many Americans also noticed the pope’s gift for unexpected meetings when he welcomed Bob Dylan at the Vatican.
What the Bible says about peacemaking
The pope’s call to “build” peace echoes the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. Among the Beatitudes, Jesus named peacemakers as people God especially blesses:
“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” (Matthew 5:9, KJV)
Jesus did not say “peace-lovers” or “peace-wishers.” A peacemaker does the work. That can mean crossing a border, as the pope did. More often it means crossing a dining room, a church hallway or a family group chat to mend something broken. Christians who differ on many questions can agree on this verse: the people of God are meant to be known by the peace they help create.
Faith through weakness
The trip is also a picture of perseverance. The pope had surgery on Oct. 13 and finished the 14-day recovery period his doctors required before they cleared him to travel, Al Jazeera reported. On the flight he told reporters he felt “fairly good,” and he said he never doubted the journey had to go ahead. He said he hoped it would strengthen faith, renew hope and rekindle charity in the countries he visits.
What to watch next
- The pope stays in Uruguay through the weekend, including a Mass in the town of Florida and a visit to a Montevideo neighborhood hit hard by gang violence, according to Al Jazeera.
- He then travels to Argentina, with stops in Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Luján, Vatican News says.
- The trip ends in Peru, where he served for about two decades as a missionary and bishop. Stops include Lima, Cusco, Pucallpa in the Amazon region and Chiclayo, his former diocese.
- The tour runs through Nov. 17. Vatican News says it includes about a dozen flights, 10 cities and nearly 40 speeches, all in Spanish.
Upstormed News will follow the pope’s journey as it continues.
Why it matters for families
Thanksgiving tables are only a few weeks away, and for many families they are also where old hurts come up. This weekend’s news is a good reminder that peacemaking starts small. Parents can read Matthew 5:9 with their children and ask together: Who do we need to make peace with? Who in our church or neighborhood is lonely or left out? Christians are also urged to pray for believers who live under pressure, a theme Upstormed News explored in a November call to remember the persecuted church.
Read more: ‘Here Am I, Send Me’: New Path Lets Troops Train as Chaplains Before Veterans Day
Where do you see a bridge that needs building in your community this season? Tell us in the comments.
Sources: Vatican News, “Pope Leo invites Uruguayan faithful to build bridges for peace” (November 7, 2026); Vatican News, “Pope Leo begins Apostolic Journey to Uruguay” (November 6, 2026); Associated Press via Durango Herald, “Pope Leo XIV arrives in Uruguay at start of South American tour less than a month after lung surgery” (November 6, 2026); Al Jazeera, “Pope Leo arrives in Uruguay starting 12-day Latin America tour” (November 6, 2026); Bible Gateway, “Matthew 5:9 (KJV)” (accessed November 7, 2026).
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