Pope Leo XIV starts South America tour after lung cancer surgery
The 71-year-old pope departs Rome for a 12-day, three-country tour of Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, beginning his first trip since recovering from lung cancer surgery.
At a glance
- Pope Leo XIV departs Rome for a 12-day, three-country South America tour after completing recovery from lung cancer surgery.
- The 71-year-old pope will fly to Montevideo, Argentina, and Peru, delivering 36 speeches and visiting 10 cities.
- Argentina's Milei and Peru's Fujimori face tensions with the pope over secularism, poverty, and AI ethics.
Pope Leo XIV departed Rome on Friday for a 12-day, three-country tour of Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, beginning his first trip since undergoing surgery last month to remove the lower lobe of his right lung. The 71-year-old pontiff will take 12 flights, including two helicopter rides, deliver 36 speeches, and visit 10 cities, including Cusco in Peru at more than 11,000 feet above sea level. Vatican officials say he has completed his two-week recovery and requires no further treatment, though altitude sickness may affect visitors at high-altitude stops.
The first leg takes him to Montevideo, Uruguay, a small nation of around 3.5 million people where only about one-third of residents identify as Catholics. A retired Catholic, Ana Maria Saprissa, said she is grateful the pontiff is visiting a country that "has so many needs." Father Pablo Coimbra, the community's pastoral leader for six years, said the pope's visit brings hope to a working-class neighborhood often overlooked by the city center.
A proposed papal address to parliament was quickly scrapped amid public and political pushback, but Uruguay's left-wing President Yamandú Orsi will oversee a welcome ceremony outside the main cathedral. Sunday mass will be held in Florida, a town that commemorates the Virgin of the Thirty-five, a symbol of Uruguay's 1825 independence from Brazil.
By Sunday, Leo will arrive in Argentina, fulfilling a wish of his predecessor Pope Francis, who never made the trip before his death. Pope Leo's visit offers an early test of how he will navigate tensions between the Catholic Church and right-wing populist leaders across Latin America. Argentina's far-right President Javier Milei has pushed austerity measures that have pushed millions into poverty, while embracing data centers and loose AI regulation — policies at odds with Pope Leo's encyclical calling for ethical safeguards in artificial intelligence.
The final leg returns Leo to Peru, where he spent two decades as a missionary and later Bishop of Chiclayo. He became a naturalized Peruvian in 2015 and will meet with President Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of former dictator Alberto Fujimori. As a priest during the dictatorship, Leo publicly criticized military violence and supported Peru's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Source: NPR News.
Questions and answers
- When did Pope Leo undergo surgery?
- Last month, Leo had surgery to remove the lower lobe of his right lung and completed a two-week recovery period with no further treatment needed.
- Which countries will the pope visit?
- The pope will visit Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru during a 12-day tour from November 6 to 17.
- Why did the pope visit Uruguay?
- Communications chief Maria Montserrat Alvar said 'Why Not?' — the Gospel is meant to go everywhere, even secular nations.
