Pope Leo: Mothers, Never Tire of Passing on the Faith
About 50,000 filled the square at Uruguay’s national Marian shrine as he blessed a child and urged the nation to act.
On Sunday, November 8, 2026, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass in the square before the Cathedral Basilica of Florida, National Shrine of Our Lady of the Thirty-Three, in the city of Florida, Uruguay—about 100 kilometers inland from Montevideo. Some 50,000 faithful attended.
En route, the Holy Father stopped at the parish of Santa Teresita. He entered for a brief prayer, greeted roughly 2,000 people outside, and gave them his blessing. He recalled that his family, especially his father, held great devotion to Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, and called the pause "a moment of devotion and thanksgiving." Upon arrival at the shrine, he stepped from the popemobile to bless Guadalupe, a little girl preparing for heart surgery.
A people under Mary’s mantle
In his homily the Pope drew on the figures of Judith and Elizabeth. He recalled that in 1825 those who fought for Uruguay’s freedom placed their cause under Mary’s protection, and that a thirty-three-member assembly drafted the act of independence that year. “Uruguay has been intimately linked to a Mother,” he said.
He paid tribute to mothers who taught children their first prayers and to grandmothers who kept an altar at home. He also honored Saints María Francisca Rubatto and the Blessed Aguiar-Mella sisters, Dolores and Consuelo.
To women who grieve children who no longer pray, he said: “Do not consider what you have sown to be lost,” citing Saint Monica. He urged them directly: “Mothers and grandmothers: never tire of passing on the faith!”
Fathers, youth, and a nation that must move
Addressing fathers and grandfathers, the Pope insisted: “Your children and grandchildren need to see that the faith occupies a genuine place in the lives of the men in your family.” Young people, he added, need to see them pray and “treat your wives with respect.”
He closed with a summons in Spanish—“Uruguay, hay que ponerse en marcha” ("Uruguay, we must get going")—urging Catholics not to wait for those who have drifted away to return on their own, but to take one step toward someone who has long stopped believing.
The visit forms part of the Pope’s apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru (November 6–17, 2026). At Florida he placed the transmission of the faith at the heart of the nation’s Marian memory, calling every generation—especially mothers, grandmothers, fathers, and grandfathers—to live and hand on what they have received.