Pope Leo XIV Begins 12-Day Latin America Tour Three Weeks After Lung Cancer Surgery

Pope Leo XIV departed Rome on Friday for a 12-day apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, embarking on one of the most physically demanding papal trips in recent memory just three weeks after undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from his right lung.

The 71-year-old pontiff left Rome's Fiumicino airport at 7:05 a.m. aboard an ITA Airways flight bound for Montevideo, where he is scheduled to arrive at 4:30 p.m. local time . The Vatican has dismissed suggestions that extraordinary precautions are being taken, describing Leo as "a 71-year-old who has undergone an operation" rather than someone with a "permanent medical condition," and stressing that he has "fantastic stamina" and personally confirmed the schedule "with no changes."

A Swift Return from Surgery

Leo revealed in October that doctors had discovered a tumour during a routine scan. The growth was removed along with the lower lobe of his right lung in a 90-minute operation at Rome's Gemelli hospital on October 13 . The surgery confirmed a diagnosis of pulmonary adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer, and his medical team subsequently confirmed the cancer had not spread.

His surgeon, Dr. Stefano Margaritora, said shortly after the operation that there were "no clinical reasons" why the Latin America trip should not proceed, adding that the pope had "put his heart and soul into his recovery" . Leo left hospital ahead of the weeklong stay initially anticipated and has since resumed a busy schedule of audiences and liturgical celebrations.

The trip is his sixth international apostolic journey and the seventh of his pontificate when including a visit to San Marino. Over twelve days, he will deliver 36 speeches, all in Spanish—the language that shaped his nearly two decades of priestly and episcopal ministry in Peru .

Uruguay: A Secular Nation Awaits

The journey begins in Uruguay, a country with a strongly secular identity that is receiving its first papal visit in nearly four decades. Leo will meet President Yamandú Orsi at the Estévez Palace and address authorities, civil society, and the diplomatic corps at Plaza Independencia before celebrating Vespers at the Metropolitan Cathedral and leading a prayer vigil at the Estadio Centenario, where some 60,000 people are expected .

Organisers have framed the visit as a message for all Uruguayans, not only Catholics. "The Pope is coming for everyone," said Patricia Schroeder, executive coordinator for communications for the papal visit, describing the trip as bringing "a message of peace and hope for the whole country" .

Argentina: Homage to Francis and a Complex Political Backdrop

The Argentine leg, running from November 8 to 11, carries particular symbolic weight. Leo's predecessor, Pope Francis, never visited his homeland during his pontificate—a fact that has long shadowed the Argentine Church. Father Fernando Laguna, rector of Argentina's national church in Rome, said the visit filled hearts with joy and described it as a homage to Francis .

The political dimensions are delicate. President Javier Milei once called Francis "evil on earth" and a "communist" for promoting social justice doctrine, while Argentina's bishops have criticised Milei's austerity measures. Milei has since welcomed Leo warmly, and the two will share a televised national message on the evening of November 8 .

Leo's Argentine schedule includes a visit to the Pequeño Cottolengo Don Orione home for people with disabilities, Mass in Buenos Aires' Palermo woods, a meeting with labour and business representatives, a visit to a prison complex, and a final Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján, Argentina's patronal shrine .

Peru: The Homecoming

The emotional centrepiece of the journey comes last. Leo—born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago—spent years in Peru as a missionary, bishop, and canon lawyer, and holds Peruvian citizenship. He served as Bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 until Francis called him to the Vatican in 2023 .

In Chiclayo, the diocese he led for eight years, he will celebrate Mass on the Pampas de Pimentel before an expected one million faithful. He will also travel to Santa Cruz de Succhabamba in the Cajamarca region, venerate the image of the Immaculate Virgin at Chiclayo Cathedral, and join a prayer gathering marking the 300th anniversary of the canonisation of Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo .

He will then travel to Cusco, the former Inca capital, to meet faithful at the Sacsayhuamán archaeological park and pray the Angelus at the Cathedral of the Assumption, before continuing to Pucallpa in the Peruvian Amazon—a visit that Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said connects to the Amazon synod and Francis' encyclical Laudato si', emphasising that environmental protection is inseparable from defending human dignity and the rights of indigenous communities .

In all three countries, the Vatican has said Leo will meet with survivors of clerical sexual abuse—an issue that clouded Francis' 2018 visit to Chile and Peru.

A Papacy Shaped by the Peripheries

Leo's election in May 2025 made him the first American-born pope and the first Augustinian. He chose his name in reference to Leo XIII, whose 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the social question amid the first industrial revolution—a parallel Leo sees in the challenges posed by artificial intelligence and modern labour conditions .

His biography is one of missionary service in regions marked by poverty and violence. He arrived in Peru in 1985, during a period of guerrilla conflict, and became known for humanitarian outreach—supporting soup kitchens, advocating for flood-prone housing, and organising an "Oxygen of Hope" campaign during the Covid-19 pandemic . His time in Peru, Professor Aldo Llanos of the University of Piura has said, fundamentally shaped his understanding of the Church: "Had he stayed in his native country, I think his sense of the Church would've been very different. But he came to Peru in 1985—a country in crisis—and was changed by it" .

For a pontiff recovering from cancer surgery, the itinerary is arduous: multiple long-haul flights, helicopter transfers to high-altitude Andean sites, and Masses before crowds numbering in the millions. But the Vatican's message, as Villanova University's Professor Massimo Faggioli put it, is clear: "That was a short episode and now we're back on track."