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MONTEVIDEO (RNS) — When Pope John Paul II visited Uruguay in 1987 and 1988, the country had long had a public policy promoting secularism, but Catholics had not yet become a minority in the country. Nearly four decades later, as Pope Leo XIV becomes the first pope since to return to the southeastern South American country, just 36% of the population is Catholic according to an August survey by Equipos Consultores.

Leo addressed that reality head on in his first speech in the country, asking that religion not be “confined to the private sphere” as he spoke with government and diplomatic officials.…