Vatican clarifies Pope Leo XIV visit to Uruguay parish, not Mexico City Basilica, Digi Mart USA News: The Vatican had to move quickly to put out a controversy after a reference to a visit to the “Virgin of Guadalupe” was widely misreported as a stop at the Basilica in Mexico City, according to the publisher’s report.
Holy See spokesman Matteo Bruni firmly denied press reports that confirmed a visit by Pope Leo XIV to the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City. The clarification followed confusion caused by remarks from Maria Montserrat Alvarado, the newly appointed prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, who is Mexican.
During a presentation of the Pope’s South American tour, she referred to a stop at “Our Lady of Guadalupe,” which led several media outlets to wrongly assume an itinerary in Mexico.
Bruni said the pastoral engagement referred to by the official corresponds to the Parish of the Most Holy Virgin of Guadalupe, a church located in the vulnerable community of Casavalle in Montevideo, Uruguay. The Pope will visit Uruguay in the coming days as part of his South American itinerary, which also includes Argentina and Peru.
The spokesman confirmed that, although formal invitations have been extended by the Mexican episcopate and the federal government, the Holy See has no date or trip to Mexico scheduled in its immediate official agenda. The Vatican’s statement therefore tempers expectations of a near-term visit by Leo XIV to Mexico.
According to the report, the last apostolic visit by a Catholic leader to Mexico was in February 2016, led by Ppope Francis.
For now, the Vatican’s agenda remains focused exclusively on South America, with no logistical confirmation or calendar for a possible tour of North America in later years.
