With an ode to mate, pope urges faithful in Uruguay to build bridges of fraternity and faith

PAYSANDÚ, Uruguay (AP) — Pope Leo XIV urged an estimated 40,000 people in Uruguay on Saturday to build bridges of fraternity and faith, using his first Mass in South America to deliver an ode to the region's beloved mate tea and raise the profile of the Catholic Church in its most secular country.The crowd erupted in the stadium chant of “Olé, olé, olé, olé, pope, pope!” when Leo's plane landed in Paysandú, in western Uruguay on the border with Argentina. They cheered again, blew horns and waved yellow handkerchiefs when he arrived in his open-sided popemobile at the Mass site in Parque París Londres, a sprawling green space on the southern edge of the city.In his homily, Leo reminded them that the Catholic faith had been "part of the life of the Uruguayan people since their earliest days, and it must be passed on to future generations with creative courage!"More than 30,000 people — many from Uruguay but also from neighboring Argentina and Brazil — had registered in advance to attend