Bishops asked the president of Uruguay to invite Pope Leo XIV to visit the country

The Permanent Council of the Episcopal Conference of Uruguay (CEU) met this Tuesday, August 5 with the President of the Nation, Yamandú Orsi, with whom the bishops spoke about Church’s concerns, especially the draft Euthanasia law, and expressed their desire to receive the visit of Pope Leo XIV in the country.

The President of the Permanent Council of the Episcopal Conference of Uruguay (CEU), Mons. Milton Tróccoli; Together with his vice president, Cardinal Daniel Sturla; and the Secretary General, Mons. Heriberto Bodeant held a one -hour meeting with Orsi on Tuesday.

The meeting took place in the Executive Tower, headquarters of the Uruguayan government, and it was the occasion to discuss several current issues, concerns and concerns of the Catholic community in Uruguay.

First, the bishops raised the president the proposal to invite Pope Leo XIV to visit the country, an initiative that demands the joint invitation of the Episcopal Conference and the State.

As indicated by Mons. Bodeant at a press conference, Orsi “said he has the possibility of visiting the Pope next October and maybe he can personally invite,” he says The Archdiocese website of Montevideo.

In addition to this, formal management is necessary through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During the meeting, said the Secretary General of the CEU, “we listen to the president with a lot of concern and sensitivity for several situations of poverty, people deprived of liberty and addictions.”

“These are issues that we share as concern and, from our communities as a church, we try to respond as much as possible to those needs,” he said.

Another concern about those who exchanged Lifes was the bill that seeks to regulate euthanasia in the country, which will be voted in the next few days.

Manifestly against the project, from the Catholic Church they sought to “emphasize everything that can positively be done, that is, to promote care and accompaniment to people in their suffering, a possibility that has been developed in the world and that can help avoid life terminations unnaturally,” explained the prelate.

He also clarified that they did not ask the president to veto the euthanasia law in case of being approved, but “we just raised our position.”

“The president listened to us with much respect and dialogue about the importance of emphasizing alternatives, care and, especially, promoting palliative care,” he insisted.

Finally, they talked about the news of Catholic education in the country, where there are 157 institutions that face economic precariousness, especially small schools in villages.

Although they did not ask for a subsidy, the prelates requested the aid in some aspects to “relieve the economy” of these educational centers, and offer a solution that “does not hypothes the future of schools.”