Pope wraps up Uruguay visit and heads to most fraught stop of his tour in Milei's Argentina

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) — Pope Leo XIV is wrapping up his visit to Uruguay on Sunday by marking an important Catholic feast day that is tied to the country’s independence, capping his effort to draw attention to the role the church has played in Latin America’s most secular country.

Leo was traveling to the city of Florida, north of Montevideo, before heading to Argentina for the second leg of his three-nation tour of South America. It's expected to be the most politically delicate, given the Catholic Church's sharp criticisms of the austerity program of libertarian President Javier Milei.

For his final event in Uruguay, Leo was commemorating the feast of the Virgin of the Thirty-three. Every year, thousands of pilgrims flock to the city to pray before the small wooden icon of the Virgin Mary.

According to tradition, 33 independence patriots acquired the Guaraní statue and had it with them when independence was declared from the Brazilian empire in Florida on Aug. 25, 1825.

Leo became the first pope in nearly four decades to visit Uruguay, in hopes of reminding its people that the Catholic Church is part of their very identity as a nation — even if in subsequent decades the country went on a deeply secular, and at times anticlerical, route.

Leo was hoping to leave a final parting message before opening the second leg of his South American trip, which he went ahead with despite having undergone surgery Oct. 13 to remove a cancerous tumor from his lung. The final stop is in Peru, his second homeland.

Leo, 71, has appeared in fine form at his events, singing loudly, bounding up stairs and gamely greeting the crowds in his popemobile. He has not cut any events short, including those that have kept him out until past midnight Rome time.

“This visit will also serve to reinforce the image of Leo as a leader, not merely in a spiritual sense, but in a much broader capacity as a political leader and a widely recognized figure who, far from shying away from conflict or tension, offers a powerful perspective and commands a highly respected voice,” said Luis Bahamondes, a professor at the Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Chile.

Milei is due to meet Leo at the Buenos Aires airport and then the two will appear together for the traditional welcome ceremony and exchange of speeches. The encounter could be tense, given Milei’s austerity measures that have slashed social spending, and his embrace of artificial intelligence.

Milei’s sweeping spending cuts have greatly strained relations with Argentine church leaders, who have criticized his government for putting economic orthodoxy ahead of the needs of the poor.

Since taking office in December 2023, for example, Milei has slashed Argentina’s health care budget by 48% in real terms. Planned cuts to the public university system, which represents a near-universal point of pride in the crisis-prone country, sent students into the streets.

Much like its allies in the Trump administration, Milei's government has portrayed the cuts as part of a necessary reform process to remake Argentina’s troubled economy and eliminate fraud and waste in the federal bureaucracy.

According to official data, poverty in Argentina reached 32.3% of the population during the first half of 2026, representing about 15 million people.

Milei has also courted AI investment and data centers with promises of limited regulation. Leo has warned about the threats to humanity and the environment of the AI race and called for strict, internationally policed safeguards on its development.

In Argentina, Leo is very much completing unfinished business left by his predecessor, Pope Francis. The Argentine Jesuit, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires, never returned home during his 12-year pontificate, confounding friends and foes alike.

“There’s a lot of disagreement over Francis and his legacy in Argentina,” said David Lantigua, a theology professor and faculty fellow at the University of Notre Dame’s Kellogg Institute, which focuses especially on Latin American affairs.

Much of the polemics stems from his tenure in Buenos Aires, when the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was a sometimes divisive partisan figure in a politically polarized country. Bergoglio was a slum priest, who advocated for the poorest and most marginalized — the sector of Argentines who have been feeling Milei’s social spending cuts the most.

“I think we’ll see that kind of tension with Leo — that’s the ministry Francis left behind,” Lantigua said.

Leo, who spent two decades as a missionary priest in Peru ministering to poor people, is very much a pastor in Francis' image and owes his pontificate to the late pope.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Pope Leo XIV arrives too lead a vigil payer at Centenario Stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Pope Leo XIV leads a vigil prayer at Centenario Stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)

Faithful listen to Pope Leo XIV leading a prayer vigil at Centenario Stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Mazzarovich)

Pope Leo XIV leads a prayer vigil at Centenario Stadium in Montevideo, on the second day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope Leo XIV is cheered by faithful as he arrives for a prayer vigil at Centenario Stadium in Montevideo, on the second day of his twelve-day apostolic journey to South America, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

KRAKOW, Poland (AP) — Poland began two days of national mourning on Sunday, after a 24-year-old man with far-right views drove into a busy central square in Krakow and opened fire, killing six people and wounding 15 others before police shot and wounded him.

The attack, which Poland’s defense minister described as an “act of terror,” happened on Saturday in Main Square, which is in the heart of Krakow’s Old Town and is a major tourist hub in the country’s second-largest city.

By evening, mourners had left candles in memory of the victims. The square remained partially closed on Sunday morning as authorities continued their investigation.

Marie-Ange Collaer wrote on Facebook that she and her family survived the shooting during a trip to Krakow from Brussels.

“We literally ran for our lives and managed to hide from the bullets flying around,” she wrote. “Lying on the floor in a shop like in a bad police movie whilst you hear bullets everywhere.”

Collaer said her family was shaky and “quite in shock” after returning to their hotel but everyone was grateful to be alive.

“We saw a few that did not make it, true horror,” she wrote.

Authorities also found three dead bodies at the man's family home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, a city about 150 kilometers (93 miles) northeast of Krakow. The police said on Sunday they were the bodies of the attacker's sister, mother and father.

The family members likely died from gunshot wounds, the police said.

Four women and two men were killed in the Main Square shooting. Three of the women and one of the men were Polish, Krzysztof Jan Klęczar, the Malopolska regional governor, said on Sunday. A man from the U.K. and a woman from an unidentified foreign country were also among the dead.

The two police officers who stopped the attacker, in actions authorities hailed as heroic, remain in hospital. One of them is still in a coma while the other woke up from a coma, Klęczar said. Officials launched an appeal for blood donations for the benefit of the most seriously wounded policeman.

“If it weren’t for the efficient and selfless intervention of these two young men, the number of victims could have been significantly higher,” Klęczar said.

Five non-Poles are among the wounded. They come from the U.K., Portugal, Russia, Germany and Austria.

The attacker is also in critical state, having been operated multiple times.

There was confusion on Saturday about the shooter's age, with authorities first saying 24 and later 25. On Sunday they confirmed that he is 24.

Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said the attacker holds “very radical” and “ultranationalistic” views.

“Everything indicates that he was fascinated by far-right ideologies,” Kierwiński said at a news conference.

Videos posted on social media by witnesses show people running away from the square to take cover on small streets nearby, as well as first responders trying to resuscitate victims. In one video, a police officer is seen repeatedly shooting the attacker, who is lying on the street, only to later slowly collapse to the ground himself.

Klęczar said the victim's father owned over 10 guns legally and that the attacker also owned guns.

Around 411,000 people hold gun permits in Poland, which has a population of 37 million, and interest in gun ownership has been rising.

Mass shootings are uncommon in Poland. However, in mid-October three attacks at schools in the central province of Mazovia took place within four days, leaving one person dead and many wounded, including children. The young attackers used knives or other sharp objects.

The Krakow attacker’s military gear, guns and overall look were similar to those of other “extreme right lone actors” committing attacks around Europe, said Kacper Rekawek, a senior researcher at the International Center for Counterterrorism in The Hague.

“We have had attempts before, but now we can say that these kinds of attacks have become successful in Poland.”

Ciobanu reported from Warsaw, Poland. Associated Press journalist Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this report.

Candles stand near the market square in Krakow, Poland, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, where several people were shot the day before. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)

A back flag hangs at a house near the market square in Krakow, Poland, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, where several people were shot the day before. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)

A police barrier tape is fixed at a broken storefront window near the market square in Krakow, Poland, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, where several people were shot the day before. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)

Forensic investigators work next to police privacy screens in a cordoned off area after a shooter opened fire in a market square in Krakow, Poland, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, leaving people dead and injured, according to authorities. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)

A forensic investigator takes photos next to the vehicle allegedly used by a shooter who opened fire in a market square in Krakow, Poland, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, leaving people dead and injured, according to authorities. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)