MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (OSV News) — The stadium built for the first-ever FIFA World Cup in Uruguay was filled with cheers on Saturday night, not for a soccer match, but for Pope Leo XIV, who told the 70,000 people inside that becoming a saint is the ultimate goal.

“Be saints!” the pope told the joyful crowd in Montevideo’s historic Centenary Stadium Nov. 7. “Do not settle for a merely decent life or for a habitual faith, content with doing only the essential. Do not give God only a part of yourselves — give yourselves completely!”

In a country where soccer is sometimes treated as a religion, the pope urged people not to settle for a mediocre life, but to discover a full and free life in Jesus Christ. 

“Saints are men and women who overflow with the abundance of life in Christ,” he said. “They are free and authentic people whose lives make it attractive to say a resounding ‘yes’ to love, truth and happiness. Do not be afraid, then, to aspire to holiness. Christ did not call us to mediocrity; he called us to a new and full life like his own.”

‘The playing field of life’

Centenary Stadium was built in 1930 to host the soccer matches for the first FIFA World Cup. The open-air stadium in Uruguay’s capital city of Montevideo has been designated a world soccer monument by FIFA, the organization that organizes the World Cup.

Cardinal Daniel Fernando Sturla Berhouet, the archbishop of Montevideo, said that hosting the pope in the iconic soccer stadium is “a spectacular goal!”

“Soccer is very important in our culture; we even speak about life using the language of soccer,” the cardinal said.

“We have not come merely to cheer from the stands. We don’t want to just stay on the bench. Christ invites us to step onto the playing field of life — a match played out in our neighborhoods, our families and our workplaces,” he added.

The night was filled with musical performances, cheers, fireworks, and classic Spanish Catholic hymns. Many people in the stands sipped on yerba mate, a beloved drink in Uruguay, and held their cell phones in the air to illuminate the stadium. 

“If the pope tries my mate, I’d be very happy,” 15-year-old Eros Recalde from Montevideo told OSV News. “I think Pope Leo would like mate.”

“This moment is very special because it’s been a long time since a pope came here to Uruguay; the last time was in 1988, quite a long time ago. And being able to experience this with my friends, with my companions, is really nice,” he added. 

In his speech in the stadium, Pope Leo underlined that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist and encouraged people to seek out Eucharistic adoration.

“That same Jesus who was born in Bethlehem, who died and rose again, lives forever and remains with us. He awaits us, truly present in the Eucharist,” the pope said. 

“Today, therefore, we can continue to encounter him — so near and so humble — in every tabernacle. Seek him there, in Eucharistic adoration. Speak to him as you would to a friend, and let him look upon you,” he added.

‘A pope who is deeply loved’

Among those in the crowd was Ericka Cajo Cieza and her mother-in-law, Rosa Elena Castro, from Chiclayo, Peru, who now live in Uruguay. They have fond memories of attending Mass with the future Pope Leo when he was bishop of Chiclayo and were excited to be seeing him for the first time as pope.

“He is a pope who is deeply loved by everyone in Chiclayo, very humble, very loving,” Cajo Cieza said. 

“He is a very humble priest, very charitable in everything,” she added.

For 14-year-old Illiana Alvarez, seeing Pope Leo in the soccer stadium was “a wonderful experience.” She has attended soccer matches in Centenary Stadium before, but this was the first time praying with a pope in person. 

Her fellow high school classmates from Colegio Pio in Montevideo all agreed Pope Leo is better than Argentina soccer legend Lionel Messi.

“The pope is the best! Messi? So-so,” 13-year-old Franciso del Campo declared.

Searching for God

The students were among the many young people cheering loudly when Pope Leo arrived in the stadium in the popemobile.

During the prayer vigil, Pope Leo heard testimonies from young people who discovered the Catholic faith in their 20s, as well as a married couple with five children.

Twenty-two-year-old Giovanni shared why he recently made the decision to get baptized.

“In my family, no one practices the faith, except for my grandmother. I was not baptized, and I attended a secular school. I did not have a personal encounter with God until I was 20. I always felt a void that I tried to fill with fleeting things. I only heard about God through my grandmother, who prayed to the Virgin Mary for me, which sparked a desire within me that I did not understand,” he said.

“In 2023, I transferred to the University of Montevideo, where, for the first time, I encountered a chapel and a priest. A friend encouraged me to speak with the chaplain, and that was when I realized that what I had always been searching for was very close: It was God,” he added.

‘Jesus Christ is our hope’

A Catholic family of seven, whose parents have been married for 30 years, huddled together on stage to share their testimony with the pope. The parents spoke about the realities of family life in the most secularized country in Latin America, describing Uruguay as a nation with “few marriages and a declining birth rate” where “ideological currents call into question the value of life, marriage and the family.”

In his speech in the stadium, Pope Leo addressed Uruguay’s secularization directly, saying, “When we try to build a world without God, we run the risk of leaving humanity without a place as well.”

He also encouraged young people not to be afraid of the challenge of giving up “time, money, comfort and plans to serve others” and to embrace a lifelong vocation. 

“Young people, dare to take the step of marrying and starting a family yourselves. Do not be afraid of ‘forever,'” the pope said. “Married couples, open your home to life, even when the world tells you that a child is a burden.”

“Jesus Christ is our hope. Society may find many valuable things in other institutions, but none can replace the proclamation that God’s love is stronger than death, hatred, violence, war and sin. This is the joy we bring; the pope has come to remind you about this joy,” he said.

Pope Leo led the stadium in praying the Our Father prayer before giving the final blessing.

Pope Leo began his first full day in Uruguay on Saturday morning with a flight from Montevideo to the city of Paysandú, a cultural and economic hub on Uruguay’s border with Argentina, where he celebrated an outdoor Mass with 40,000 people. Upon his return to the Uruguayan capital in the afternoon, the pope visited a poor barrio of the city called Casavalle, where spoke with local residents, and later gave a speech at the Catholic University of Uruguay. 

Before departing for Argentina on Nov. 8, Pope Leo will celebrate a morning Mass in honor of Uruguay’s patroness, Our Lady of the Thirty-Three, on the date of the annual pilgrimage to the national Marian shrine. Pope Leo will visit Buenos Aires, Cordoba and Lujan, Argentina Nov. 8-11 before ending his apostolic journey in Peru Nov. 11-16.

Courtney Mares is Vatican editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @catholicourtney.