Pope Leo XIV has left Rome for South America on an apostolic journey, less than a month after undergoing surgery for lung cancer.
The 71-year-old flew out of Fiumicino airport at 7am on November 6, bound for Montevideo. He was due to visit 10 cities before returning on November 17.
It is his first visit to the continent as pontiff. Doctors at Rome’s Gemelli hospital removed the lower lobe of his right lung on October 13 after finding a nodule that was later confirmed as adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer.
The Vatican said the disease had been localised and would require no further treatment. The diagnosis still cast doubt over the tour and on medical advice Leo cancelled a helicopter trip to a peace gathering in Assisi in October.
On October 26 the Holy See said his personal physician, Luigi Carbone, had found no medical reason to prevent a journey involving about a dozen flights. Holy See Press Office director Matteo Bruni said on November 3 that no additional medical measures would be needed.
According to the Holy See Press Office, the Pope is expected to deliver around 40 addresses, all in Spanish. Bruni confirmed that Leo would also meet victims of clerical sexual abuse.
The first leg, in Uruguay from November 6-8, takes in Montevideo, Paysandú and Florida. The programme includes a visit to the deprived Casavalle district of the capital and a prayer vigil at the Estadio Centenario.
It is the first papal visit to Uruguay since John Paul II in 1988. Argentina, where Leo would stay from November 8-11, last received a pope in 1987.
Pope Francis, the first Argentine pontiff, never returned to his homeland during his 12 years in office. Leo was expected to meet President Javier Milei and visit Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Luján, home to the shrine of the country’s patroness.
The final and longest stage, in Peru from November 11-17, would take him to Lima, Chiclayo, Cusco and Pucallpa in the Amazon region. Chicago-born Leo spent about two decades in Peru as an Augustinian missionary, was bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023 and holds Peruvian citizenship.
The first US-born pope has at times had a strained relationship with Washington. In May, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held talks with Leo at the Vatican after President Donald Trump publicly criticised the Pope.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said the visit had stirred joy and hope among local communities, as well as high pastoral and social expectations.
He said people facing complex times were looking to the Pope for encouragement on reconciliation, peace and social justice, with particular attention to indigenous peoples.
