As Pope Leo prepares for the longest tripod his pontificate, Church leaders in Uruguay say the pontiff will encounter a highly secularized culture, in a country with a very different Catholic history than many of its South American neighbors.
The nation has not had a papal visit since 1988, and leaders who spoke with The Pillar say it has a dire need for evangelization, even amid the prospect of a small revival in faith.
Pope St. John Paul II celebrates a Mass in Uruguay’s Centenario Stadium, May 7, 1988. Credit: Public domain.—
Popularly known as the Switzerland of the Americas, Uruguay is one of the most stable countries in Latin America — but it’s also widely regarded as the most secularized on the continent, with Mass attendance among Catholics in the single digits, and more than half the population identifying as non-believers.
Uruguay was one of the first countries in Latin America to legalize gay marriage, abortion, and euthanasia.
Observers have said the country is in many way more akin to Europe than the rest of the continent, as most Latin American countries are also undergoing a process of secularization, but
Read more...
