Uruguayan Bishops visit Rome ahead of Pope Leo’s November visit

By Sebastián Sansón Ferrari

“How can we evangelize and proclaim Christ in the different situations we encounter?”

This was how Bishop Alfonso Bauer of Florida summed up one of the main concerns that Uruguay’s Bishops have brought to Rome during their ad limina Apostolorum visit.

In the deeply secularized Latin American country, the Church is seeking new ways to make the Gospel present, accompany people, and offer reasons for hope.

During their visit to the Dicastery for Communication, Bishop Bauer and Bishop Arturo Fajardo of Salto spoke with Vatican News about the situation in their dioceses and the pastoral challenges they are sharing with the Holy See.

On September 14-19, the Uruguayan Bishops are making their ad limina visit, which includes meetings with various offices of the Roman Curia, an audience with Pope Leo XIV and, in conclusion, a pilgrimage to Assisi.

The visit is taking place just a few weeks before the Pope’s Apostolic Journey to Uruguay, scheduled for November 6-8 at the beginning of his extensive journey through Latin America, which will also take him to Argentina and Peru.

Bishop Fajardo of Salto said evangelization is one of the principal challenges facing a Church in “the most secularized country in Latin America.”

Making his third ad limina visit, he explained that Uruguay can in some respects be considered a “small experimental laboratory” showing how a Church has sustained her apostolic mission and continued moving forward despite difficulties.

Alongside evangelization, Bishop Fajardo pointed to other challenges: increasing the number of vocations and giving “new impetus to the work of evangelization,” always, he emphasized, “with trust, hope and joy,” because it is the Lord’s work.

Listening in order to evangelize

The ad limina visit also enables the Bishops to reflect together on the situation in their dioceses and to consider it in light of the experience of the universal Church.

Bishop Fajardo emphasizes the value of preparing reports and sharing them with the various Dicasteries, since the process provides an opportunity to take stock of the communities that each bishop is called to accompany.

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This is the first ad limina visit for Bishop Bauer since Pope Leo XIV appointed him Bishop of Florida. Just a few months after his episcopal ordination, he described this initial period as a time of learning and numerous challenges.

One of his first tasks has been to visit the communities of Florida and Durazno, learn about their situations and listen to their people.

“Listening is the first element to be taken into account,” said the Salesian Bishop. Listening to the Lord and listening to others thus becomes a key aspect of his episcopal ministry, in continuity with the synodal path begun during the pontificate of Pope Francis and continued by Pope Leo XIV.

According to Bishop Bauer, meetings with the Holy See’s institutions provide insights and guidance for the pastoral journey.

They do not offer “ready-made formulas,” he explained, but elements that help to shed light on the concrete circumstances of each local Church. At the same time, the Bishops are discovering that many of the difficulties Uruguay faces are shared by communities elsewhere in the world.

The question of life’s meaning

During the conversation, Bishop Fajardo—who shepherds the country’s geographically largest diocese, encompassing the four departments of Artigas, Salto, Paysandú, and Río Negro—emphasized that secularization does not necessarily eliminate the search for the religious dimension.

On the contrary, he believes that the decline of ideologies and questions about the meaning of existence can open new possibilities for evangelization.

“I believe that the question of the meaning of life” is one of the great challenges, he said, recalling that Christianity “is an event and an encounter” that goes beyond a moral code or an ideology.

In this context, the Bishop of Salto also affirmed the value of popular piety. He said that Marian devotions and expressions of faith found in different regions of Uruguay should be valued, promoted, and accompanied by formation.

Bishop Bauer emphasized the need for the Church to be present in the concrete situations of society: alongside the poorest, in education and in various social and educational initiatives.

He explained that this means proclaiming a Gospel capable of offering “joy and hope” in situations often marked by a lack of meaning.

Preparing for Pope Leo XIV’s arrival

This year’s ad limina visit has a particular focus: Pope Leo XIV’s forthcoming Apostolic Journey to Uruguay.

The audience with the Pope is scheduled for Friday, September 18, and will be one of the central moments of the Bishops’ programme.

For the Diocese of Salto, the visit takes on special significance in Paysandú, where the Pope will meet a community with a long Catholic tradition and a strong Salesian presence.

According to Bishop Fajardo, preparations encompass both logistical arrangements and spiritual preparation.

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“I believe that is the most important thing,” he said, referring to the community’s preparation to be “confirmed in the faith” and rekindle the gift it has received.

Florida is likewise preparing to welcome the Pope. For Bishop Bauer, Pope Leo XIV’s presence will be closely linked to Our Lady of the Thirty-Three, the Patroness of Uruguay.

The image, which is deeply intertwined with the country’s history, represents a point of convergence between faith, history and national identity.

“Our Lady of the Thirty-Three is bringing the Pope here,” said the Bishop of Florida, for whom the Pope’s arrival is a source of joy not only for Catholics, but also for the city and the entire Uruguayan people.

The Uruguayan bishops at the Altar of the Confession in Saint Peter’s Basilica following

A devotion that accompanies new quests

The figure of Mary also enables Bishop Bauer to reinterpret the history of Our Lady of the Thirty-Three in light of present-day challenges.

While that devotion was once associated with the liberation struggles of the past, he said that today liberation also concerns such areas as freedom, the meaning of life, work, and human dignity.

“Mary is present in these realities, accompanies us and always leads us to Jesus,” he explained.

The Marian dimension has also been present during these days in Rome. On Monday, September 14, the Bishops celebrated Holy Mass with the Uruguayan community living in Rome at the Basilica of the Twelve Holy Apostles, located just a short distance from Piazza Venezia.

At the end of the Eucharist, they descended into the basilica’s crypt, which houses an image of Our Lady of the Thirty-Three.

On behalf of the episcopate, Bishop Milton Tróccoli of Maldonado-Punta del Este-Minas, President of the Episcopal Conference of Uruguay, laid a floral offering. Afterwards, a reception hosted by the Embassy of Uruguay to the Holy See was held in the basilica’s cloister.

From communion in Rome to mission in Uruguay

The programme of the ad limina visit combines meetings with the Dicasteries and the celebration of the Eucharist in Rome’s major basilicas.

The bishops are celebrating Holy Mass at Saint John Lateran, Saint Peter’s, Saint Mary Major, and Saint Paul Outside the Walls, following an itinerary marked by prayer and communion with the universal Church.

For Uruguay’s Bishops, the challenge will continue after Rome.

Bishop Bauer hopes that the Pope’s visit will provide an opportunity to renew Christian commitment, discipleship and witness. Bishop Fajardo, for his part, calls on the faithful to prepare their “hearts” and to support the work of evangelization through prayer and commitment.

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