Pope Leo XIV’s appeal to mothers: ‘never tire of passing on the faith!’

FLORIDA, Uruguay — Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass at Uruguay’s most prominent Marian shrine on Sunday, where he paid tribute to women’s role in transmitting the Catholic faith and urged them to continue doing so despite secular trends.

“Mothers and grandmothers: never tire of passing on the faith!” Leo told a congregation in the square outside the cathedral of Florida, a city in south-central Uruguay. “Even if your loved ones seem far from God, continue to place them before him. Do not stop blessing them, accompanying them, and simply reminding them of what they once received.”

Uruguay is one of Latin America’s most secular countries, where the majority of people are not affiliated with any organized religion and 28% identity as atheist or agnostic.

The cathedral in Florida houses the Virgin of Thirty-Three, a small wooden sculpture of Mary named for the number of early 19th-century patriots who entrusted their efforts for Uruguay’s independence to her intercession.

Leo noted the history to underscore, as he has done throughout his visit, that Catholicism has deep roots in the country.

Pope Leo XIV says Mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Thirty-Three in Florida,…