Pope Leo XIV opens South America tour in Uruguay after lung cancer surgery

Recovery and a full itinerary

The 71-year-old pope's sixth international tour will take him to Argentina and Peru after Uruguay, with visits to political leaders, prisoners, poor communities and longtime friends. The Nov. 6-17 journey is the longest and farthest of his papacy, according to the Associated Press, and his first visit to Latin America since his election, OSV News reported.

Leo underwent a lobectomy on Oct. 13, 2026, for localized lung adenocarcinoma. Surgeons removed the cancerous lower lobe of his right lung, according to OSV News, in a report published by The Catholic Sun. His doctors said the following week that he needed no further cancer treatment. Vatican officials said his hospitalization had prompted no changes to the South American itinerary.

Gulf News described the journey as one of the most demanding papal trips in decades. OSV News reported that the schedule includes 14 flights, nine public Masses, seven cathedral visits and two stadium prayer vigils, with Leo due back in Rome on the morning of Nov. 17.

During the flight across the Atlantic, Leo urged others facing a cancer diagnosis "not to be afraid." He said he was carrying a message of "hope" to the world's most Catholic continent.

The flight also brought questions about his participation in this week's US midterm elections. Leo, the first US-born pope, cast a mail-in ballot, becoming the first pontiff known to have voted in a political election. He has repeatedly clashed with President Donald Trump over the Middle East war. "I'm proud to be an American and to exercise the right" to vote, he said.

Health care and faith in Uruguay

In Montevideo, thousands gathered along the waterfront to welcome Leo as he passed in a custom-made popemobile. Some carried the Vatican's yellow-and-white flags, though turnout was smaller than during his recent visits to France and Spain. Uruguay has not hosted a pope since St. John Paul II visited in 1988.

After a welcome from left-wing President Yamandu Orsi, Leo addressed a half-empty Plaza Independencia. He described Uruguay's suicide rates, among the world's highest, as "painful" and called for health care to be "accessible to everyone." Reflecting on his own cancer care, he spoke of the "many men and women who lack the means to obtain a timely diagnosis" or get treatment.

His visit comes to Latin America's most secular country. More than half of Uruguayans identify as religiously unaffiliated, the region's highest share, the AP reported. That contrasts with Vatican statistics showing that nearly 77% of the country's 3.5 million residents are baptized Catholics; only a fraction of self-identified Catholics regularly attend Mass. Christmas is officially known as "Family Day," and Holy Week as "Tourism Week."

Uruguay's liberal positions on same-sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia put it at odds with both the Catholic Church and a new generation of conservative Latin American leaders. The country legalized euthanasia last year. Leo appealed for the "protection of the unborn," while also praising Uruguay's "remarkable" progress toward a greener economy powered mainly by renewables, reflecting his environmental commitments.

On Saturday, he is scheduled to celebrate Mass for an expected 30,000 pilgrims in a park in the western city of Paysandu. He will then return to Montevideo for stops in Casavalle, the neighborhood with the capital's highest homicide rate, and at the Catholic University. A prayer vigil at Centenario Stadium is expected to draw 60,000 people.

Argentina and Francis' legacy

Leo is due in Argentina on Sunday. His predecessor, Pope Francis, never returned to his homeland during his papacy, disappointing many Argentines.

The Argentine itinerary includes a meeting with libertarian President Javier Milei and a visit to the federal prison in Buenos Aires where Francis, then Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, ministered to inmates. Leo will also visit the Don Orione care home in Claypole, south of the capital. The Catholic institution houses more than 400 people with disabilities, according to the AP.

US-based Vatican expert Christopher White, who has written a book about Leo, told AFP that the journey amounts to a double homecoming. "History's first Latin American pope, Francis, never returned to his homeland. Leo, a Peruvian citizen, now carries forward that mantle and legacy," he said.

A return to Peru

Peru will be the centerpiece of the tour, taking Leo back to a country he has called "one of my many homes." He spent nearly two decades there as a missionary. According to OSV News, he first arrived in 1985 as an Augustinian priest and later served as bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023.

Leo is scheduled to meet conservative President Keiko Fujimori, who took office in July 2026. Peru has about 34 million residents, and 25.7% of its population lived in monetary poverty in 2025, the AP reported.

Preparations for his arrival are visible in Lima's shops and bakeries, where vendors are offering T-shirts and rosaries bearing his image, along with Leo bread. In the port city of Callao, another planned stop, a 14-meter (46-foot) statue of the pope has been erected.

His route also includes the former Inca capital of Cusco and the Amazon rainforest. More private moments will reconnect him with his life as Robert Francis Prevost: supper with priests from his former diocese of Chiclayo and a visit to a chapel he helped rebuild.