MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — Lucía Pintos is training to become a teacher in Borro, a Uruguayan neighborhood hit hard by the spread of drug trafficking, where a parish that will welcome Pope Leo XIV in a few days serves as a fragile but much-needed refuge from violence.
asserted
that → train → violence
“It’s a painful reality, because the children have to go to school to have lunch or an afternoon snack,” the 21-year-old Pintos said.
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Pintos → ’ → lunch
“You can’t let your child go out to play or do the shopping because there’s gunfire.
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child → let → shopping
Leo will visit the neighborhood on the north side of Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo, at the start of his Nov. 6-17 tour of Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, which he confirmed despite his recent cancer diagnosis.
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he → visit → diagnosis
The pontiff will visit the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, which builds homes, promotes job creation and supports addicts in their recovery.
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which → visit → recovery
Violence-plagued Catholic community prepares for Leo’s visit
Neighborhoods like Borro live with the sound of gunfire and territorial disputes between drug dealers.
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Neighborhoods → plague → dealers
Concerns about violence have led the government to begin patrols with armored vehicles, which were originally donated by the United States for U.N. peacekeeping missions.
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which → lead → missions
“Families know that at a certain time they have to go inside,” said Rev. Pablo Coimbra, the head of the Our Lady of Guadalupe parish.
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Coimbra → know → parish
“When the shootings start, they throw themselves to the ground, because a stray bullet can hit anyone.
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bullet → start → anyone
It’s bursts of machine-gun fire, and the bullets land wherever they land.”
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they → ’ → fire
The Archbishop of Montevideo, Daniel Sturla, said that there is no other place in the South American country with such a strong Catholic presence as Borro.
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Archbishop → say → Borro
A day after receiving a Vatican delegation in preparation for Leo’s visit, he toured the neighborhood with The Associated Press.
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he → receive → Press
According to an official count, of the 98 homicides registered up to September in Montevideo — 13.5% more than in the same period last year — more than 46% occurred in Borro and surrounding neighborhoods.
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% → accord → Borro
Uruguay still has a low homicide rate for the region, with about 10 homicides per 100,000 people last year.
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Uruguay → have → people
In October 2025, Interior Minister Carlos Negro said that Uruguay had “epidemic homicide rates” and vowed to reduce them.
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Uruguay → say → them
Borro has poor housing and dirt roads
As the dirt roads descend toward a stream adjacent to Borro, mud becomes omnipresent.
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mud → have → Borro
It often seeps into nearby houses.
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It → seep → houses
That landscape is now cut by a concrete road prepared for the papal visit.
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landscape → cut → visit
The narrow streets converge on a soccer field restored by the parish, where Lautaro Martínez, a promising young player, practices.
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Martínez → converge → parish
However, training has been suspended these days as a precaution following recent shootings.
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training → suspend → shootings
In this context, the church has become a refuge.
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church → become → context
Neighbors bring the wounded there because ambulances will only go as far as the church.
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ambulances → bring → church
Coimbra said that gangs used to expel families at gunpoint to set up drug dens, forcing them to seek refuge in the parish.
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gangs → say → parish
To combat crime, the parish is leading social housing projects in which residents are building more than 100 units with sanitation systems — an effort that in turn generates local employment.
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that → combat → employment
“The presence of the church makes the difference between drug use and nonuse, between continuing to study and not,” the priest said.
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priest → make → use
Escaping violence through faith
Many young people seeking to leave a life of crime find solace in faith.
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people → escape → faith
On Mondays, the parish celebrates a Mass for homeless people, drawing dozens from all over the city.
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parish → celebrate → city
“They come for the bathroom and two meals, but mainly to be heard,” Coimbra said.
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Coimbra → come → bathroom
When Holy Communion is given, most remain with their arms crossed over their chests, a sign indicating they haven’t been baptized.
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they → give → sign
According to data from the Catholic Church, in 2025 only 2,200 of the 30,000 newborns in Uruguay were baptized.
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newborns → accord → Uruguay
Pablo Acosta, 28, was born in the neighborhood and got mixed up in crime.
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Acosta → bear → crime
Today he spends his days between shelters and the streets, works informally in local markets, and sends money to his 10-year-old son, whom he doesn’t see because of his addictions.
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he → spend → addictions
“I have a gunshot wound in my stomach and stab wounds.
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I → have → stomach
I owed money, I was involved where I shouldn’t have been, but for the past month I’ve been trying to quit using drugs,” he said.
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he → owe → drugs
Extending a hand to those who have strayed down dark paths and preventing youth from taking that road, Coimbra said, is the church’s task.
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Coimbra → extend → road
“They have no other opportunities, no club, no English classes, no rugby, and in some cases, barely any soccer,” Coimbra said.
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Coimbra → have → cases
“So there is a lot of idleness, and that’s where we need to intervene.”
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we → be → idleness
The Aporia
