Meet the Church in Casavalle, the Montevideo neighbourhood welcoming Pope Leo

By Francesca Merlo – Montevideo, Uruguay

Mateo walks from room to room in a house still under construction in Casavalle, a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Montevideo. He tells me where each member of his family will sleep and shows us where the kitchen will be. The house is unfinished, but he already knows his way around it and the workmen greet him as if he were one of their own.

His future home is one of twelve that Pope Leo XIV will bless on Saturday, 7 November, when he visits the community of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Montevideo. The homes are being built in the Borro area of Casavalle through a parish initiative called Familias de Guadalupe. 

Mateo building a superhero cape out of scraps of material from the parish {"@context": "http://schema.org","@type": "ImageObject","contentUrl": "https://www.vaticannews.va/content/dam/vaticannews/multimedia/2026/novembre/07/2026-11-05-casavalle-31.jpg/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.750.422.jpeg","creditText": "Vatican News","height": "750","width": "422"} Building homes with families

“Housing is one of the greatest needs people face in this neighbourhood,” says Father Pablo Coimbra, parish priest of Our Lady of Guadalupe. He tells Vatican News' Sebastián Sansón Ferrari that for some families, the work begins with installing a bathroom, replacing a roof or making the wiring safe. The parish has helped more than 90 families with repairs and improvements, he says. A second programme builds new homes for families whose houses are beyond repair. The development Mateo showed us is part of a third initiative, with another six homes planned for next year.

Workmen working on the homes {"@context": "http://schema.org","@type": "ImageObject","contentUrl": "https://www.vaticannews.va/content/dam/vaticannews/multimedia/2026/novembre/07/2026-11-05-casavalle-8.jpg/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.750.422.jpeg","creditText": "Vatican News","height": "750","width": "422"}

Maria Jose Carrau, who works with Montevideo’s Catholic social ministry, says local people helped provide the resources for the new homes, and some family members have been employed in their construction. “They build with them,” she says. It was something that came “from the community to the rest of Casavalle”.

Casavalle is often talked about in terms of poverty and violence, Carrau says. What she sees in her work is “a community that has a lot of hard-working people and families that really want to have a better life”. She estimates that around 25 Catholic organisations, parishes and chapels offer support in the area, including help with education, employment, and housing.

Maria Jose Carrau {"@context": "http://schema.org","@type": "ImageObject","contentUrl": "https://www.vaticannews.va/content/dam/vaticannews/multimedia/2026/novembre/07/2026-11-05-casavalle-13.jpeg/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.750.422.jpeg","creditText": "Vatican News","height": "750","width": "422"}

For many people in Montevideo, she says, a parish or chapel is the first place they turn to for help. Carrau describes volunteers who go out week after week to bring food and offer companionship to people living on the streets. “They know them by their names, they know their lives.” The trust built through those visits, she says, can help people begin to change their circumstances. “We provide support to every person who wants it", she adds.

Carrau hopes the Pope’s visit will encourage people doing work whose effects can take years to see. “Sometimes it’s hard because you don’t see the immediate results,” she says. “I believe that the Pope’s visit can renew our faith and our commitment to those who are most vulnerable.”

Listen to Maria Jose Carrao {"@context": "http://schema.org","@type": "AudioObject","@id": "https://media.vaticannews.va/media2/audio/s1/2026/11/06/15/139344244_F139344244.mp3","name": "Audio","description": "Audio","uploadDate" : "2026-11-05T23:01:34.761+01:00","thumbnailUrl" : "https://www.vaticannews.va/etc/designs/vatican-news/release/library/main/images/audio-overlay.250.141.png"} A school that knows its families

At the Liceo Jubilar Juan Pablo II, an archdiocesan school in Casavalle, Father Alejandro Korahais describes how gun violence can shape a decision as ordinary as when to bring in the washing. He tells us of a mother who is afraid to go out to her clothesline for fear of being hit by a bullet. Students, he says, have been killed in retaliatory violence between families. 

“They want the best for their kids. They want to get jobs,” he says of the families he works with. Finding work and earning enough to support a family are among the greatest difficulties they face.

Father Alejandro Korahais {"@context": "http://schema.org","@type": "ImageObject","contentUrl": "https://www.vaticannews.va/content/dam/vaticannews/multimedia/2026/novembre/07/2026-11-05-casavalle-10.jpeg/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.750.422.jpeg","creditText": "Vatican News","height": "750","width": "422"}

At school, Fr Korahais says, much depends on knowing each pupil and the people who care for them. Sometimes that person is a grandmother raising a child whose parents have died. “If you have someone behind the student who wants the best for the student, you have a connection,” he says. “And this is the secret here. To be very, very close.”

Some of the first adults to enrol in the school’s programme for people who had left secondary education were the parents of pupils already studying there. Korahais says some already had jobs and wanted to finish a stage of their lives they had left incomplete. Their children could see them do it. “It’s never too late to study,” he says.

One of the courtyards of the school   (@VaticanNews) {"@context": "http://schema.org","@type": "ImageObject","contentUrl": "https://www.vaticannews.va/content/dam/vaticannews/multimedia/2026/novembre/07/2026-11-05-casavalle-24.jpg/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.750.422.jpeg","creditText": "Vatican News","height": "750","width": "422"}

The school welcomes families of different beliefs, and Korahais says its Catholic identity shapes how it cares for them. “We respect the conscience of each student and each family.” For him, faith is part of what the school has to offer. “If you love every family, you want to give them the best that you have,” he says. “And for us Catholics, the best that we have is Christ.”

Listen to Father Alejandro Korahais {"@context": "http://schema.org","@type": "AudioObject","@id": "https://media.vaticannews.va/media2/audio/s1/2026/11/06/15/139344247_F139344247.mp3","name": "Audio","description": "Audio","uploadDate" : "2026-11-05T23:01:34.761+01:00","thumbnailUrl" : "https://www.vaticannews.va/etc/designs/vatican-news/release/library/main/images/audio-overlay.250.141.png"} ‘Someone sees us’

Back in the parish Father Coimbra describes the reason behind Pope Leo's visit to Casavalle as being rooted in the Gospel. “People in these areas have always felt pushed to the margins,” he says. That can mean growing up with fewer opportunities to study or to build a future. It can also mean feeling that others scarcely see you.

“When the Pope comes here and the Church turns its attention to this area, for many people it’s the first time they feel they are at the heart of the Church,” he says.

Coimbra describes a parish preparing with prayer and gatherings, and an anticipation that has spread beyond those who regularly come to church. Some people still tell him they cannot believe the Pope is coming. “Someone sees us. We matter to someone,” he says, describing what he hears in that excitement.

Father Pablo Coimbra   (@VaticanNews) {"@context": "http://schema.org","@type": "ImageObject","contentUrl": "https://www.vaticannews.va/content/dam/vaticannews/multimedia/2026/novembre/07/2026-11-05-casavalle-32.jpg/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.thumbnail.cropped.750.422.jpeg","creditText": "Vatican News","height": "750","width": "422"}

He recalls a neighbour who collects rubbish from a horse-drawn cart. Asked what he wanted from the Pope, the man spoke about the blessing. “I hope he blesses me. I hope he protects me.”

On Saturday, Pope Leo will meet families who are waiting to move into their new homes. A few days before his arrival, Mateo is already walking through his, showing us where his family will sleep. Based on his setup, his older brother and sister will be sharing a room and he will be getting his own... we'll see about that. 

Casavalle awaits the arrival of Pope Leo XIV