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Pope Leo begins 12-day Latin America trip three weeks after lung cancer surgery

The trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru is the longest of his papacy, and the Vatican says no special medical measures are planned.

Pope Leo XIV in 2025
Pope Leo XIV in 2025. Photo: Edgar Beltrán, The Pillar, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
8 news outlets reported this
Liberal3 outletsA still-recovering pope's homecoming and its political flashpointsCenter4 outletsHealth after surgery and a secular first stopConservative1 outletA recovering pope heading to his beloved Peru
Published 3 min read
Overview

Pope Leo XIV left Rome on Friday, Nov. 6, for a 12-day tour of Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, running through Nov. 17. It is the longest and farthest trip of his papacy. Three weeks earlier, on Oct. 13, he had an operation that took a cancerous tumor out of his right lung.

Doctors announced that he needed no further treatment and saw no reason he could not go. The Vatican says no special or additional medical provisions are planned for the 71-year-old pope. He lands first in Uruguay after a 13½-hour flight.

His three days there include a meeting with President Yamandú Orsi, a visit to the poor Casavalle neighborhood and, on Nov. 8, the feast of the Virgin of the Thirty-three. Next is Argentina, home of his predecessor Francis, where he is to meet President Javier Milei. Argentine church leaders have criticized Milei's spending cuts.

The last leg is Peru, where the U.S.-born Leo spent two decades as a missionary priest and bishop and holds citizenship. He plans Masses in Chiclayo, Cusco and Pucallpa. The Vatican says he will meet survivors of clerical sexual abuse in all three countries.

Latin America holds about 40% of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, but fewer people there now identify as Catholic.

Key figures
  • 31,000 kilometers (19,000 miles) distance of the trip, with a dozen flights and two helicopter rides — ABC News
  • around 40% share of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics living in Latin America — ABC News
  • 32.3% Argentine population in poverty in the first half of 2026, by official data — ABC News
  • 58% Argentines identifying as Catholic in 2024, per Pew, versus around 71% when Francis was elected — ABC News
  • around 67% Peru's Catholic population now, per Pew, versus 76% in 2013-2014 — ABC News

Three sides of the story

Liberal3 outlets

A still-recovering pope's homecoming and its political flashpoints

ABC News carries two Associated Press reports. One, headlined "A still-recovering pope will head home," opens with a 12-day, three-nation tour that is the longest and farthest of his papacy, begun three weeks after lung cancer surgery. It quotes Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni: "We're not talking of a permanent condition."

It says the Argentine leg is likely to be the "most politically delicate" because of differences with President Javier Milei. A second ABC explainer, "What to know," goes country by country: Uruguay's secular identity, Argentine church criticism of Milei's spending cuts, Argentine poverty of 32.3% in the first half of 2026, and Peru's crime and inequality. NPR's report says the surgery "had put the entire trip into question."

The New York Times headline counts "12 Planes in 12 Days" and calls it his first major trip since the lung operation.

Center4 outlets

Health after surgery and a secular first stop

Deutsche Welle's "Pope Leo sets off on 12-day South America tour" reports the plane left Rome on Friday. It adds that tickets for the prayer vigil at Montevideo's Centenario Stadium sold out in two days and gives Pew's figures on falling Catholic shares in Argentina and Peru. The Seattle Times runs an AP report built around the first stop in secular Uruguay.

It quotes Vatican communications chief María Montserrat Alvarado: "His stamina is fantastic." It also quotes Guzmán Carriquiry on reviving Catholic roots and scholar Andrew Chesnut calling Uruguay "kind of a lost cause." BBC News describes a "homecoming" to Peru.

Professor Massimo Faggioli of Villanova tells the BBC the Vatican's message is "that was a short episode and now we're back on track." The BBC reports the Vatican says Leo will meet abuse survivors in all three countries. NewsNation's headline says the trip spans three countries.

Conservative1 outlet

A recovering pope heading to his beloved Peru

The Washington Times describes Pope Leo XIV as "still recovering" and headlines his journey as a 12-day trip to "his beloved Peru." Its report says the three-nation Latin America tour, his longest and farthest as pope, begins three weeks after lung cancer surgery and has greater personal and historic significance than his earlier trips.

All sources: 11 articles from 8 outlets

Liberal (5)

Center (5)

Conservative (1)