Pope Leo Begins South America Tour After Lung Surgery
The first pope born in the United States is going back to the part of the world he calls home. The Vatican says he has healed and needs no special care on the trip.
ROME, THE PAPAL PLANE, Nov 6 – Pope Leo set off on Friday for a long trip across South America, going back to the region where he lived and worked as a missionary for many years. It comes just weeks after he had surgery for lung cancer.
Leo, 71, is the first pope born in the United States. He will visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru over the next 12 days, until November 17. Millions of people are expected to come out to see him.
It is one of the busiest papal trips in decades. The pope will travel roughly 31,000 kilometers (19,300 miles), visit 10 cities, and deliver 36 speeches.
The Vatican said this week that he has fully recovered from his recent operation and that no special health precautions are being taken for the journey.
Leo was born in Chicago but spent much of his life in Peru and later became a Peruvian citizen. His spokesman, Matteo Bruni, described the trip as a “homecoming to places where he spent a long time,” adding that the pope feels a deep personal connection to the communities he will visit.
On Wednesday, Leo told the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square what he hoped the journey would achieve. He said he wanted to strengthen ties with local churches, offer encouragement to Catholics in the region, and draw attention to the social and environmental challenges facing many of the places on his itinerary.
He said he wanted to “strengthen the faith, renew hope, (and) rekindle the fire of charity.”
The pope left Rome early on Friday and was due to land in Uruguay in the afternoon, local time. He will remain there until Sunday, visiting three cities. He will then spend three days in Argentina and six days in Peru.
In each country, he will address the government. Those speeches will be closely watched, as the pope has spoken forcefully about the state of global leadership in recent months.
He will also celebrate Mass outdoors at major sites, visit a prison in Argentina, and travel by helicopter to remote towns in Peru’s high Andes.
On Sunday, he is scheduled to meet Argentine President Javier Milei. Milei, a right-wing libertarian, is viewed as a close ally of US President Donald Trump. Trump criticized Leo earlier this year after the pope spoke out against the war with Iran.
Bruni said the pope’s speeches will address the major challenges facing the region, including environmental damage, the illegal arms trade, and political instability.
He said the pope hopes to deliver a message of unity and remind people that they belong to one human family.
Leo’s visit to Argentina carries particular significance. His predecessor, the late Pope Francis, was Argentine but never returned to his home country as pope, although he did visit Peru in 2018. No pope has visited Argentina or Uruguay since the late 1980s.
Officials in Argentina expect about 7 million people to attend events featuring Leo.
Latin America is home to more Catholics than any other part of the world. But the Church has been losing people to fast-growing evangelical churches. It has also struggled to keep up with changing social views, and with people who prefer to worship in their own way.
Local Church leaders hope Leo’s visit will help revitalize the faith and restore the Church’s standing, which was damaged by the abuse scandals. The Vatican says Leo will meet with several survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests, though it has not provided further details.
Leo had surgery on October 13 at a hospital in Rome. Doctors removed part of his right lung after finding adenocarcinoma, the most common kind of lung cancer. They said it had not spread and that he would not need more treatment.
Bruni said Leo has recovered well enough that no extra medical steps are needed.
Medical experts told Reuters that the fact his doctors let him fly suggests the risk from his surgery is low. They said his lung appears to have fully expanded and his wounds seem to be healing well.
But they said he may need to take breaks on such a busy trip. He may also need extra oxygen at times, they said, especially when he visits the high Andes in Peru.
