Pope Leo XIV Departs for 12-Day Latin America Trip Three Weeks After Lung Surgery

Pope Leo XIV departed Rome’s Fiumicino airport at 7:05 a.m. on 6 November for a 12-day apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. The trip runs through 17 November and is his first visit to Latin America since his election. He is scheduled to arrive in Montevideo at about 4:30 p.m. local time.

The 71-year-old underwent lung cancer surgery on 13 October. Vatican officials said this week that he has completely healed and that no special medical precautions are being taken for the tour. He will travel some 31,000 kilometres across 10 cities, take roughly 14 flights including two by helicopter, deliver about 36 speeches and participate in around 50 events. The schedule includes outdoor Masses expected to draw more than a million people in Buenos Aires and about 1.2 million at the final Mass in Lima.

The itinerary begins with two days in Uruguay, the most secularized country in Latin America and the first papal visit there since John Paul II in 1988. He will visit Montevideo, Paysandú and Florida. He then spends three days in Argentina, the homeland of the late Pope Francis, visiting Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Luján. He is scheduled to meet President Javier Milei and visit a prison. The final six days are in Peru, where he lived and served as a missionary and bishop for about two decades. Stops include Lima, Chiclayo, Cusco and Pucallpa. In Cusco he will be above 11,000 feet, where oxygen levels are about 35 percent lower.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the speeches will address environmental destruction, arms trafficking and regional political instability. The pope has criticized the Iran war in recent months. He will give addresses to the governments of each country. The trip is described as one of the most demanding overseas tours by a pope in decades. Estimates suggest crowds in the millions across the three countries.

Leo, the first U.S.-born pope, spent decades as a missionary in Peru before becoming a bishop there. The Peruvian leg is expected to draw the largest emotional response. In Argentina the visit comes nearly four decades after John Paul II’s 1987 trip. In Uruguay the motto is “I bring you news of great joy.” In Argentina it is “Welcome everyone. Go and proclaim.”

The Vatican confirmed on 26 October that the journey would proceed as planned after the surgery. Officials said the pope was enthusiastic and would receive ordinary medical assistance. The return flight from Lima covers about 6,700 miles. No changes to the published program have been announced. The schedule includes meetings with political leaders, young people, workers and Catholic communities, plus visits to remote Andean and Amazonian areas.

The intensity of the itinerary, including high-altitude stops so soon after lung surgery, drew attention inside the Vatican. Officials have stated that the pope is clinically fit for travel. The trip will test both his recovery and the reception in countries facing political and economic pressures. Large outdoor gatherings are planned throughout.