Pope Leo XIV strongly condemned poverty and violence on the seventh (local time) during the second day of his South American tour in Uruguay.

According to AFP, the Pope visited the Casavalle district in Montevideo and emphasized, "In a country blessed with such abundant resources, children should never go to sleep hungry. Even less should they face violence that costs them their lives."

The Casavalle district, home to many low-income residents, suffers from a homicide rate four times the national average.

Local residents met with the Pope to passionately and vividly describe the routine gun violence and dangers they face. Although Uruguay is considered one of South America's relatively safe and prosperous nations, a surge in cocaine trafficking has driven up the homicide rate in recent years.

The Pope lamented the reality where even children are exposed to violence, stating, "There are children in Uruguay who are afraid they won't make it back home and therefore cannot go to school."

The Pope blessed 12 newly built low-income homes funded by the Vatican and told the residents, "Being with you feels like being at home. It brings back memories of when I visited various communities as a missionary."

During a candlelight prayer service held that evening at the Centenario Stadium in Montevideo, the Pope urged a crowd of 60,000 faithful, "Young people must have the courage to get married and build your own families."

He also pointed out that secularization is deepening even in Latin America, where Catholicism has traditionally been strong.

According to the polling firm Latinobarómetro, the proportion of people in Latin America identifying as Catholic has dropped from 80% to 55% over the past 30 years.

During a mass presided over in the northwestern Uruguayan city of Paysandú, the Pope cited secularization and asked Catholic believers to become "people who build bridges."

He drew applause and laughter by mentioning the local tradition of sharing mate tea from a gourd vessel through a metal straw, joking that "mate tea has even reached Rome."

At the Catholic University of Uruguay, he emphasized that artificial intelligence (AI) must serve human dignity. In particular, he warned against dehumanization resulting from the use of AI in education, urging schools and universities to prioritize people over algorithms.

The Pope, who was born in the United States and spent nearly 20 years as a missionary in South America, is currently on a 12-day tour of the region. On the 8th, he will visit Argentina, the homeland of the late Pope Francis, and then head to Peru, where he previously served as a bishop.

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