Borro Parish Prepares to Welcome Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV is due to visit Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Borro, a neighborhood in northern Montevideo, as part of a November 6-17 tour of Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. The parish provides housing, employment initiatives and help for people recovering from addiction. The pope confirmed the trip after a recent cancer diagnosis.

Residents face gunfire and disputes between drug gangs. Government patrols now use armored vehicles originally donated by the United States for United Nations peacekeeping missions. Of 98 homicides recorded in Montevideo through September, more than 46% were in Borro and nearby neighborhoods; the city’s total was 13.5% higher than for the same period last year. Uruguay recorded about 10 homicides per 100,000 people last year.

The parish has become a refuge: residents bring injured people there because ambulances will travel only as far as the church. Parish leader Rev. Pablo Coimbra said families know when they need to go indoors as shootings begin. The church is also leading a project in which residents are building more than 100 homes with sanitation systems, creating local jobs. A nearby soccer field restored by the parish has temporarily suspended training after recent shootings.

The parish holds a Monday Mass for people experiencing homelessness, and offers meals and a place to be heard. Pablo Acosta, 28, who has experienced gunshot and stab wounds and struggled with drug use, said he had been trying to stop using drugs for the past month. Coimbra said the church aims to help young people avoid crime, citing the lack of activities and opportunities available to them.