Catholic News
Pope Leo XIV urged young Uruguayans to be saints at a vigil drawing about 100,000 people in Montevideo. He celebrates Mass in Florida on Sunday before leaving for Argentina.
The pontiff visited a lower-income neighborhood where a Catholic parish is helping the needy.
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Pope Leo XIV, speaking to residents of a disadvantaged neighborhood in Uruguay's capital on Nov. 7, drew attention to one of Latin America's most urgent social problems: violent crime.
"We cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that there are children in Uruguay who do not go to school for fear of never returning home," the pope said.
"In a country as rich in resources as this, children should never have to go to bed hungry or be denied the chance of a decent education and a dignified future because of the insecurity that reigns in the streets. Much less should they have to suffer violence to the point of losing their lives."
Leo made his remarks in a speech to members of a Catholic parish in Casavalle, a lower-income neighborhood in northern Montevideo.
Violent crime is a pressing problem across Latin America, much of it driven by the drug trade and other organized crime. UN figures put the homicide rate in Latin America and the Caribbean at roughly four times the global level, the highest of any world region.
In his brief talk, Leo cited Jesus's parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37), emphasizing that the man helped by the Samaritan was a victim of violent crime, since he "fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and took off, leaving him half dead."
The pope lamented that "this story is repeated today in the widespread insecurity and violence that unfortunately threaten the peace of our neighborhoods and even the lives of our loved ones, and all too often society responds with indifference," like those who passed by the beaten man before the Samaritan helped him.
"Yet we can see another side: the actions of many institutions and people of goodwill who foster peace and offer practical assistance to those in need," Leo said.
He pointed to the testimonies of hardship and hope recounted by parish members just before he made his own remarks. The pope also acknowledged the U.S.-based Papal Foundation for its financial support for building houses for needy members of the parish.
"We must work together: the Church, civil society and the State. We need to shake off our apathy and advocate for the common good," the pope said. "Let us therefore unite our efforts and respond generously to the call to build together a homeland of brothers and sisters."
The pope was scheduled to leave Uruguay on Sunday for Argentina, where he will spend three days before moving on to his former home of Peru, where he will spend five days before returning to Rome.
Pope Leo XIV begins his first full day in South America on Nov. 7 in Montevideo, Uruguay, where he will hold a papal Mass and meet with several communities of the faithful.
"The Dating Project," streaming on EWTN+, is for single Catholics as well as for parents who are praying for a good partner to walk into their child's life.
The short documentary "The Dating Project" opens with a prologue from a Catholic priest explaining how he prays for young men and women to find one another for a holy Catholic marriage — but it's also probably the most secular product the storied Family Theater Productions company has ever produced.
The film, streaming now on EWTN's new on-demand digital platform EWTN+, is must-watch TV — not only for any serious single Catholic but also for all those Catholic parents of single adult children praying for a good Catholic partner to walk into their child's life.
It is a short film, but a big topic. And the situation is urgent. According to the film, for the first time in American history, more people are single than married.
"The Dating Project" puts flesh and blood to this demographic red flag by following four distinct groups.
First, there are young people in college experiencing "adulting" for the first time and finding that the collegiate "hookup culture" has replaced traditional dating.
Next, we meet a woman in her mid-20s. She has not been on a date in years, and when she did last go on one, what the young man wanted was not what she was looking for.
Then there is the vibrant career woman in her 30s who works 70 hours a week, lives in the hectic world of New York City, and has little time for anything resembling a romantic relationship.
Finally, there is a single man pushing 40 who has never been married and is actively trying to find someone from online dating services.
Boston College scholar Kerry Cronin is the film's tour guide into the dateless culture we reside in and has become kind of a legend on campus with her "Dating Assignment" class.
To pass the class, a student must ask someone out for a date and do it face-to-face — no DMs or texts. Simply asking someone out for a cup of coffee is a passing grade.
As the film shows, especially among college-age students, they do not really know what dating is, and few of them in the film recall ever having gone on one.
There are so many obstacles in their way: The solitary-inducing effects of the internet, the loosening bind of traditional extended families, and the breakdown of social support systems have made the traditional concept of dating seem, well, dated.
But as Cronin makes clear to her students, getting back to basics is a pathway to a real relationship. Like all worthy journeys, the first steps are the smallest.
If one is looking for an example of how far afield this concept has become for college-aged young adults, they might check out the latest headlines from the sordid affair on the Cornell University campus.
But if dating has been left to atrophy, the desire among people to forge relationships has not. Cronin identifies her students' main challenge: For the past two generations, the culture has been telling people that relationships and sex are "no big deal."
Cronin counters that those two "deals" are actually huge. The young college people in the film, having lived their lives with TV sitcoms, movies, and music selling them the opposite view, seem to have an inner desire for the professor's view, if her overflowing lecture hall is any indication.
As the film's writer and producer Megan Harrington puts it, "The film offers viewers hope, inspiration, and tools for navigating the relationship landscape."
Since we did not get to this point overnight, it will take time and more efforts like Cronin's to re-prioritize the "big deals" when it comes to relationships. To that end, the production company has also launched a YouTube series called "Dating Decoded: Beyond the Dating Project" that dives deeper into the film's themes, including unseen footage from the original.
This story was first published by Angelus News. It has been adapted by EWTN News and reprinted here with permission.
At an outdoor Mass far from the capital, the pontiff celebrated the Catholic heritage of one of South America's most secular countries
PAYSANDÚ, Uruguay — Pope Leo XIV on Saturday celebrated his first Mass in the Americas since his election as pope, choosing to do so not in a national capital but in a provincial border city, where he lauded and encouraged the simple faith of ordinary people.
In his first full day on a tour of three South American countries, Leo also honored Uruguay's first bishop, Bl. Jacinto Vera, whom he remembered as the "gaucho bishop" who evangelized the region in the 19th century.
The pope's homily was a reminder to Uruguay, one of Latin America's most secular countries, where more than half the population is unaffiliated with organized religion, that the Catholic Church has deep roots in its history.
"From the earliest days of evangelization on this continent, [people of faith] arrived in the name of the Lord to proclaim the great joy they themselves had experienced in encountering Christ," Leo said. "Like the angels who appeared to the shepherds, they joyfully shared the Good News of the Gospel, expressing their faith through works of charity and mercy."
Paysandú is a city of about 80,000 people, just across the Uruguay River from Argentina, and more than 200 miles from Uruguay's capital, Montevideo.
Leo celebrated Mass under cloudy skies in a city park whose grounds were muddy after recent rains. Temperatures were in the low 60s Fahrenheit but felt 10 degree colder on account of the wind.
Still, over 40,000 turned out for the Mass and the enthusiasm level was high, with members of the congregation chanting out their affection for Leo prior to his arrival.
"It's an enormous joy, an enormous joy. We waited a long time for Francis, and now Pope Leo has arrived, so we're happy," said María del Rosario Esquiros, a retiree from Paysandú who said she had trained for several days to serve as an extraordinary minister of Communion at the Mass.
The last pope to visit Uruguay was St. John Paul II, who spent three days there in 1988.
Leo organized his homily on Saturday around three symbols: bridges, palm groves and mate, a traditional herbal infusion popular in the region.
Bridges bring people together, Leo said, repeating a metaphor beloved of his immediate predecessor Pope Francis. He said that palm trees are symbols of rootedness in Christ, and the fact that they grow not separately but in groves a symbol of the Church.
As for mate, often drunk in company, Leo called it "a sign of familiarity, friendship and encounter. It teaches us to share and to be together, strengthening the bonds that unite us as brothers and sisters. It is a sign of welcome, integration and shared values."
After three days in Uruguay, the pope will spend three days in Argentina and five days in his adopted Peru, where he served for about 20 years as a missionary and bishop.
Pope Leo XIV begins his first full day in South America on Nov. 7 in Montevideo, Uruguay, where he will hold a papal Mass and meet with several communities of the faithful.
Persecuted Christians will be honored and remembered this month as cathedrals and churches are illuminated red around the world.
About 130 cathedrals, thousands of churches, and over 125,000 people around the world are expected to take part in Red Week this month, with the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, honoring the occasion by lighting up in red on Nov. 23.
Red Week 2026 will take place from Nov. 15–22, with Red Wednesday falling on Nov. 18 in most regions, although it will be observed on Nov. 25 in the Philippines.
The observance began in 2016 by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), an international Catholic aid organization and Pontifical Foundation of the Church that supports Christians who are persecuted, oppressed, or in material need. The week includes illuminating monuments in red, prayer vigils, testimonies, and seminars on Christian persecution around the world.
Designed to raise awareness of the ongoing Christian persecution in countries particularly in Africa and Asia, Red Week brings together those who are persecuted and those who are working to end violence and hatred against people of faith. At various events, testimonials from survivors of religious persecution will provide powerful moments of reflection about the suffering and human rights violations happening around us that go unnoticed.
According to the latest figures provided by ACN, 413 million Christians live in countries where serious violations of religious freedom occur, and around 220 million Christians worldwide are directly exposed to persecution.
"Faced with this reality, the pontifical foundation is once again promoting the Red Week this November, an international mobilization of prayer, witness, and awareness-raising to draw attention to the deterioration of religious freedom and remember the millions of Christians who suffer discrimination and persecution because of their faith," said Regina Lynch, executive president of ACN International.
Red is more than a color
According to ACN's "Religious Freedom in the World Report 2025," more than 5.4 billion people — almost two-thirds of humanity — live in countries where religious freedom is not fully guaranteed.
The color red is used to symbolize the blood of martyrs and all those who suffer for their faith. In 33 countries Christians have been forced to leave their homes because of their faith while in 57 countries Christians suffer physical violence or even detention because of their faith.
Each church and monument taking part in Red Week serves as a reminder of Christians who cannot freely practice their religion. In line with article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, every individual has the freedom of thought, religion, and conscience with the right to practice their beliefs, free from persecution and violence.
Through this weeklong initiative, ACN aims to promote one shared goal of making visible the shared suffering of the Christian people and defend everyone's fundamental rights to religious freedom.
As the U.S. bishops' Pregnancy Help Appreciation Week takes place Nov. 9–13, one pro-life group is providing practical support to mothers in crisis and for years afterward.
Research shows that roughly 60% of women who have had abortions say they would have chosen life if they had more support at the time, according to Anna Stephens of Her PLAN, a pro-life safety net organization that provides practical support to mothers experiencing crisis and for years afterward.
"Abortion says to women: 'You can't be a good mom.' It's a lie," she said. "The pro-life movement says the opposite."
The organization connects services that already exist within communities so that pregnant women and new mothers who want to choose life can receive the practical support they need.
"At Her PLAN, we do the 'life' piece of the pro-life movement," Stephens said. "We help moms to choose life, and to sustain it."
With the approach of the U.S. bishops' Pregnancy Help Appreciation Week from Nov. 9–13, Stephens, marketing and communications director at Her PLAN, spoke with EWTN News about the organization's mission and how her faith informs her work there.
Her PLAN, founded in 2020 and headquartered in Virginia, assesses women's needs across seven key areas, aiming to strengthen community-based resources that can meet those needs at the time of a crisis pregnancy and for years afterward.
The seven areas are women's health; care coordination and pregnancy support; prenatal diagnosis; material or legal support; finances, work, and education; recovery and mental health; and care for children.
"How can we provide those things to her in that moment of crisis and years down the road, so that she can make the choice for life?" Stephens said.
The organization does not provide direct services itself. Instead, it identifies assets already present in local communities, building a directory of life-affirming, credentialed, and trustworthy providers. It also looks for gaps in needed services, such as transportation, housing, or childcare, and then works with communities to fill those gaps.
Her PLAN's directory currently spans 29 states and contains more than 8,000 listings of vetted, life-affirming providers, Stephens said. The organization has coordinators on the ground in nine states: Florida, Georgia, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, Ohio, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Nebraska. There, they meet community stakeholders, facilitate workshops, and help identify needs and existing resources.
In states without a coordinator, the Pathways platform, launched in June, offers a 10-question quiz that gives those with a desire to help mothers in need a place to begin.
"People often want to help in a concrete way but don't know where to start," Stephens said. "The problem feels too big, and they might think: 'I can't open a maternity home, so I won't do anything.'"
The Pathways platform offers practical ideas so individuals and parishes can start helping mothers in concrete ways, whether with a support group, a food pantry, job assistance or financial help, or a day of free car maintenance.
Stephens said that transportation is one of the biggest barriers many mothers face: "If they don't have a working car, they can't get to work or drive their children to school."
She described car maintenance days, an effort supported by Her PLAN, where mechanics volunteer their time, often with the assistance of a local church, as "a practical way everyday people can use their skills and expertise" to help mothers with a very real need.
Stephens, who keeps St. John Paul II's quote "Be not afraid!" up in her office, said her Catholic faith shapes her work and mission. "I've always had a heart for this. I always recognized, from my parents, the intimate beauty and worth every human life has. I've always wanted to protect that."
Her PLAN is a project of the SBA Pro-Life America Education Fund and is a secular group, but Stephens said "the pro-life work we do here is inherently Catholic in many ways" because of its "fundamental belief in the worth of every human being."
She said the group also offers churches a 30-day prayer guide to assist them in discerning what needs mothers have and how to help them.
The U.S. bishops recently recognized the "heroic" work of pregnancy help centers and resource help centers such as Her PLAN.
In a statement issued Oct. 27 in anticipation of Pregnancy Help Appreciation Week, Bishop Daniel E. Thomas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities, thanked those who provide "necessary resources to women, babies, and families during pregnancy and beyond."
Pope Leo XIV arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay, where he met the country's president, addressed dignitaries, and celebrated vespers at the city's cathedral.
The bill was introduced to address the lack of regulations on surrogacy. The proposed law penalizes the practice but does not criminalize the pregnant woman and makes her the legal mother.
The bill to ban surrogacy in Colombia will undergo the first of four required debates in the coming days, Rep. Luis Miguel López Aristizábal, the bill's author, announced.
"The proposal for the bill that would ban 'rent-a-womb' or surrogacy in Colombia has just been formally submitted. This means that in the next few days, we will hold the first of the four debates that this bill requires," the congressman from the Conservative Party stated.
The bill was introduced in mid-August in response to calls from the Constitutional Court in four separate rulings to enact legislation regarding surrogacy, an area currently lacking legal regulation, which is being exploited by private clinics, with "direct consequences for the fundamental rights of the women who carry the pregnancies and the children born through this practice."
On his social media, López stated that "the lobbying by clinics has been truly incredible; however, we believe that the majority of Colombians support this bill. And not just that, I hope it will be passed unanimously in the Congress of the Republic, as it has the backing of various voting blocs."
"We need this to be prohibited quickly to protect our children and women — after all, what is the value of a baby? Naturally, it is priceless, because a child is not a product, and a woman cannot be rented," the legislator remarked.
What the bill proposes
López noted that "the bill does not criminalize the pregnant woman; rather, it protects her and directs sanctions toward those who promote, facilitate, finance, or organize this practice."
To this end, the bill establishes the criminal offense of "reproductive exploitation through surrogacy" with or without payment involved and imposes penalties on those who promote, facilitate, finance, or organize such practices, with punishments consisting of "120 to 192 months [10 to 16 years] in prison and fines ranging from 500 to 1,500 times the minimum wage, with aggravating circumstances applicable in cases involving the vulnerability of the woman."
These sanctions also apply to Colombian citizens abroad who have fully or partially engaged in surrogacy.
In addition to protecting the surrogate mother from having to return any payments received, the bill establishes that, "for all legal purposes, the mother of the children conceived or born in Colombia is the woman who carries and gives birth to them."
This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
