URUGUAY · POPE LEO VISIT
Key Facts
- The country Uruguay is a small South American republic of fewer than 4 million people, wedged between Argentina and Brazil, and one of the most secular countries in Latin America. Montevideo’s cardinal has called his Church poor, free and very small.
- Why it matters Pope Leo XIV is the first pope born in the United States, and the US Catholic Church has lived through the clergy abuse crisis. How he treats survivors on this tour is watched closely in the United States.
- Why now The pope lands in Uruguay on Friday 6 November 2026 as the first stop of a tour that runs to 17 November. The Vatican announced survivor meetings for the tour on Tuesday 27 October.
- What happened Montevideo’s cardinal will hand the pope a letter from a man who alleges that a priest abused him years ago. The Uruguayan Church received no request for a meeting between the pope and alleged victims in the country.
- The numbers The Uruguay leg lasts 3 days, from 6 to 8 November, inside a 12-day tour. This pope has already met survivors twice on trips, in Madrid on 8 June and in Lourdes on 27 September.
- What it means for you Survivor meetings on earlier stops were held behind closed doors, so expect outline details only. Travellers to Montevideo, Paysandú or Florida around 6 to 8 November should plan for closures and crowds.
- Still open In which country the survivor meetings will happen, what the letter asks, and whether any case has reached prosecutors or a Church tribunal.
- Power Index Uruguay ranks 7th of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 45.9 points (October 2026 edition).
In Plain English
The Holy See Press Office is the Vatican’s official spokesman’s office, which announced the tour and the survivor meetings. Vatican News is the Holy See’s own news service.
El País is one of Uruguay’s leading daily newspapers and the outlet that carried the cardinal’s account of the letter. A cardinal is a senior Catholic bishop who can vote in the election of a pope.
INISA is Uruguay’s national institute for the social inclusion of teenagers, which manages state programmes for young people in conflict with the law. Casavalle is a low-income area of northern Montevideo that the cardinal urged the pope to visit.
Montevideo’s Cardinal Daniel Sturla, the top figure of Uruguay’s Catholic Church, will hand Pope Leo XIV a letter from a man who says a priest sexually abused him years ago when the pope visits Uruguay from 6 to 8 November 2026, the newspaper El País reported on Saturday 31 October. Sturla told the paper that he has met the man several times and promised to pass the letter on, while the Church has received no request from any alleged victim or group for a meeting with the pope in the country.
The detail matters to US readers because Leo, born in Chicago, is the first US-born pope, and the Vatican announced on Tuesday 27 October that he will meet clergy abuse survivors during the tour without saying in which country. The visit follows the pope’s own message on Monday 26 October that confirmed the 6 to 17 November tour of Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, and the Uruguay leg opens it.
What the Cardinal Said
According to El País, the abuse allegedly happened several years ago, and the accused was a foreign priest who was passing through Uruguay. The paper’s account does not name the man or the priest and does not describe what the letter asks.
El País reported that the pope will hold no meetings with alleged victims in Uruguay because the Church received no request for one, whether from individuals or from organisations. Vatican News recalls that Sturla has described his Church in Montevideo as poor, free and very small, in one of the region’s most secular countries.
What the Vatican Announced
The Holy See Press Office said on Tuesday 27 October that some meetings are planned during the tour with people who are victims of abuse by members of the clergy and the Church. Its statement said the meetings respond to the pope’s wish to express closeness to those who have suffered, to build paths to healing and to make the Church a safe place.
Vatican News said Leo met survivors in Madrid on 8 June and in Lourdes on 27 September, both behind closed doors. El País added that for the meetings in Spain only the complainants and the pope took part, and that both sides promised absolute confidentiality.
Papal meetings with survivors are not new, and Vatican News recalls that Pope Benedict XVI held them during his 2008 visit to the United States. Before the Madrid meeting, Leo had already received at the Vatican members of the board of the group Ending Clergy Abuse, 15 survivors from Belgium and a man abused as a child at a college in Dublin.
The Casavalle Stop
The Uruguayan presidency says the pope’s official visit runs from 6 to 8 November and that official activities will take place at Carrasco airport and Plaza Independencia in Montevideo. Press credentials for those events are to be collected on Wednesday 4 and Thursday 5 November.
On Saturday 7 November the pope is to visit Casavalle, a low-income area of northern Montevideo, where he will bless a church-backed housing project called Viviendas de Guadalupe and talk with families, El País reported. He will then watch a video on the Church’s social work and hear three testimonies, and the stay is planned to last about 45 minutes before he goes to the Catholic University.
A wooden cross for the stage, 3 metres (about 10 feet) tall, was made over 20 days by six young people from the state juvenile institute INISA with three instructors, El País said. The bishops plan an evaluation meeting in Florida after the pope leaves Uruguay on Sunday 8 November.
Masses, Crowds and Football
The pope is also due to say Mass in Paysandú on Saturday 7 November at 10:00 and in Florida on Sunday 8 November, next to the shrine of the Virgin of the Thirty-Three, Uruguay’s patron saint. Montevideo Portal reported on 29 October that more than 20,000 people had registered for Paysandú, that 500 volunteers had signed up and that organisers planned 50 entry lanes at the Parque París Londres.
Uruguay’s top football league will play no matches on the weekend of 6 and 7 November because of security needs linked to the visit, Montevideo Portal reported on 30 October. The league’s executive board plans to play midweek so that the season ends before players’ leave begins on 9 December.
What It Means for You
American Catholics and travellers heading to Uruguay for the visit should expect closures, crowds and a changed Montevideo weekend of 6 to 8 November. The presidency’s notice covers only press credentials, so pilgrims should rely on the Church’s own registration for entry to the events, which Montevideo Portal said was still open on the visit’s official website on 29 October.
For US readers, the survivor meetings are the part of the tour with the clearest link to US Church history, because Benedict XVI met US survivors in 2008 and Leo is the first pope born in the United States. What happens in Uruguay will reach the public only in outline, since the Spanish meetings were held under confidentiality.
What Is Not Known
The Vatican has not said in which of the three countries the survivor meetings will take place or who will take part. The Uruguayan Church says it received no request for a meeting there, and the paper does not say whether the pope will reply to the letter.
The contents of the letter and the identity of the priest are not public, and El País gives no sign that the allegation has reached prosecutors or a Church tribunal. More background on the country is on the Uruguay news hub, and the earlier report on the ticket rush for the visit covers how the events are being filled.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who will give Pope Leo the abuse letter in Uruguay?
Cardinal Daniel Sturla, the top Catholic figure in Uruguay, will hand the pope a letter from a man who says a priest abused him years ago. Sturla told El País that he promised the man to deliver it.
Will Pope Leo meet abuse survivors in Uruguay?
The Vatican has announced meetings with survivors during the tour but has not said where. In Uruguay, El País reported, none is planned because the Church received no request for one.
When is Pope Leo in Uruguay?
The pope visits Uruguay from Friday 6 to Sunday 8 November 2026, the first stop of a tour that continues in Argentina and Peru until 17 November. Official events in Montevideo take place at Carrasco airport and Plaza Independencia.
Why does the pope’s visit matter to Americans?
Leo was born in Chicago and is the first US-born pope. His handling of clergy abuse survivors is closely followed in the United States.
Has the priest been named?
The priest has not been named in El País’s account, which describes only a foreigner passing through Uruguay several years ago. The paper also withholds the name of the man who wrote the letter.
Sources: Vatican News on the Holy See Press Office announcement, 27 October 2026; El País (Uruguay), 31 October 2026; Uruguay presidency, press accreditation notice, 30 October 2026; Montevideo Portal on the Paysandú Mass, 29 October 2026; Montevideo Portal on the football calendar, 30 October 2026; Vatican News (Spanish), 30 October 2026; Vatican, biography of Leo XIV.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief