Helping the only seminary in the country!
In Uruguay, the Catholic Church holds much less influence in society than in most other Latin American countries. Only around 30% of the country’s 3.5 million citizens identify as Catholics, and religious faith and practice have been largely relegated to the private sphere.
The second smallest country in Latin America has a long history of secularism—a process that began in the middle of the 19th century. To this day, Christian feast days are not officially recognized by the state, so Christmas Day is officially marked on the calendar as Family Day, while Holy Week and Easter have become Tourism Week. And not surprisingly, many of the country’s laws are in direct contradiction to the teachings of the Catholic Church.
There is only one seminary in the entire country, located in the capital of Montevideo, where the seminarians from all nine dioceses of the country receive their formation. Currently there are 16 young men preparing for the priesthood. Many priests in Uruguay live in deep poverty, and the Church is dependent on outside support. The running of the seminary is a heavy financial burden, but the formation of these future priests is a vitally important task to maintain the Catholic Church’s presence in the country in the future. We would therefore like to support the seminary again this year with a contribution of $84,042.
