Cardinal Sturla anticipates papal trips to Argentina, Uruguay, and Peru

Lima Newsroom, May 24, 2025 / 09:00 am

Uruguayan Cardinal Daniel Sturla anticipates that Pope Leo XIV’s first visit to Latin America “will include Argentina, Uruguay, and possibly Peru” on his itinerary.

In a May 21 interview with Uruguay’s “Radio Carve,” when asked about a possible visit by the Holy Father to that country, the archbishop of Montevideo said the likelihood is “very high” because Pope Leo “is very much aware that Argentina and Uruguay weren’t on Francis’ calendar — not because Francis wanted it that way — but because that’s the way things turned out.”

The Uruguayan cardinal, who participated in the conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV earlier this month, indicated that for “the first visit to Latin America, it seems to me — I am not the one who keeps his schedule — he will have Argentina, Uruguay, and possibly Peru on his itinerary” given that the pontiff was bishop of Chiclayo and later as apostolic administrator of Callao.

Pope Leo XIV ‘seeks the unity of the Church’

“I was very pleased with the pope’s election. I think he is a figure who seeks the unity of the Church, and this is very important today. He will continue the main lines that were innovative and positive, so to speak, of Francis, but with a very different style,” Sturla said.

After mentioning that he had had contact with the Holy Father at the Synod of Synodality and during a meeting of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, the Uruguayan archbishop emphasized that Leo XIV “is a man who listens a lot, speaks little, and who speaks, let’s say, slowly, thinking a lot about what he says; that is to say, he has a very different character from that of Francis, and I think that is good at this moment in the Church.”

The Salesian cardinal also recounted that “I had often thought in my life as a Christian, as a religious, and as a priest … about being in St. Peter’s Square when a new pope is elected” because “it’s a fantastic thing.”

“I had never imagined being on the other side, let’s say, being on the inside, so it was a very powerful thing,” since “I felt the weight of responsibility for what I was about to do, because it is a historical event that links the life of the Church with what Jesus did with Simon Peter 2,000 years ago, [which is] narrated in the Gospels. When Cardinal [Robert] Prevost says, ‘I accept,’ in that moment he is transformed into the successor of Peter,” the cardinal said, sharing his reflection on his first conclave.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.