In Montevideo’s Casavalle, Pope links hunger and school safety to shared public responsibility
A visit to a disadvantaged neighbourhood put housing, insecurity and children’s education at the centre of the Pope’s appeal.
Official source: primary statement
In Montevideo’s Casavalle, Pope links hunger and school safety to shared public responsibility.
Pope Leo XIV urged the Church, civil society and the state to work together on hunger, insecurity and access to education during a visit to the Casavalle community in Montevideo on Saturday, according to Vatican News, the Holy See’s official news service.
The meeting took place at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish. Vatican News reported that the Pope listened to residents describe hardship before arguing that support for vulnerable families should be a shared responsibility rather than a reason for institutions to retreat.
His remarks connected children’s safety with their ability to attend school and linked food insecurity to dignity. Those comments are the Pope’s assessment of local conditions; this report does not treat them as an independently measured account of poverty or crime in Uruguay.
Vatican News also described a parish housing project for families with limited means, supported by benefactors of The Papal Foundation. The account offered no basis for this desk to establish how many households still need housing or how the project compares with public provision.
The distinction matters: charitable assistance can meet an immediate need without replacing government responsibilities. In the official account, the Pope explicitly cautioned against making emergency help a substitute for those responsibilities.
This original briefing is based on the linked official account, not on an on-site interview by Focus Plus Media. Further reporting would require direct local evidence from residents, schools and the authorities responsible for services.