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Pope Leo XIV to Visit South America Despite Recent Cancer Surgery

Updated 12:25 AM ET · 3:19 AM ETConfirmedShare on

Faith Desk

In Short: Pope Leo XIV will visit Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru from November 6 to 17, 2026, despite undergoing lung cancer surgery earlier this month.

Pope Leo XIV will embark on a 12-day visit to South America, starting November 6 and ending November 17, 2026, visiting Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru.

The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Leo XIV will meet privately with victims of clergy sexual abuse during his visit, signaling a focus on survivor outreach.

Pope Leo XIV expressed his gratitude to the medical team and the faithful, stating, 'It was detected at a very early stage and is well-defined.'

The Holy See Press Office confirmed that the Apostolic Journey of Pope Leo XIV to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, scheduled for 6–17 November 2026, will proceed according to the programme previously published.

Pope Leo XIV will meet with survivors of clergy sexual abuse during his upcoming trip to Latin America, which will take the American pope to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru.

The Vatican has published the schedule for Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic journey to Latin America, where he will visit Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru from Nov. 6–17.

Pope Leo XIV will celebrate Mass in the square of the Cathedral Basilica of Florida, which houses the National Shrine of the Virgin of the Thirty-Three, the patroness of Uruguay.

Pope Leo XIV will visit the Pequeño Cottolengo Don Orione in Claypole and celebrate Mass at 11:30 a.m. On Monday, November 9.

Pope Leo XIV will meet with President Yamandú Orsi of Uruguay and President Javier Milei of Argentina during his visit.

Pope Leo XIV will visit the parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the Casavalle neighborhood and lead a prayer vigil at 7 p.m. In Montevideo.

Pope Leo XIV will visit Peru, a country where he lived for many years and even served as Bishop of Chiclayo between 2015 and 2023.

Pope Leo XIV will celebrate Mass in the Pampas of Pimentel in Chiclayo, the Peruvian diocese he shepherded before being called to Rome.

What this adds

Background

What's confirmed

• His stop in Argentina, from November 8 to 11, will be the first papal visit to the country since John Paul II’s in April 1987.
• The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Leo XIV will meet privately with victims of clergy sexual abuse during his 6-17 November visit to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, signaling a focus on survivor outreach during the trip.
• The pope’s visit aims to strengthen ties with local churches, encourage the faithful, and promote a message of faith, hope, and peace in the region.
• From there, he will travel to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay.
• "The Holy See Press Office confirms that the Apostolic Journey of Pope Leo XIV to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, scheduled for 6–17 November 2026, will proceed according to the programme previously published," said the Vatican in a note.
• Argentina (OSV News) — Bishops’ conferences across Latin America urged prayers for the health of Pope Leo XIV, whose visit to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru remains uncertain after he underwent surgery to remove the lower lobe of his right lung.
• The pope’s flight from Rome to Montevideo, capital of Uruguay, is expected to last close to 13 hours.
• The Vatican has published the schedule for Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic journey to Latin America, where he will visit Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru from Nov. 6–17.
• Pope Leo XIV is set to be the first pope to visit Uruguay since St.
• ROME — Pope Leo XIV will meet with survivors of clergy sexual abuse during his upcoming trip to Latin America, which will take the American pope to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, the Vatican said Tuesday.
• At 6:15 p.m., the pope will pay a courtesy visit to the president of Uruguay, Yamandú Orsi, at his residence at the Edificio José Artigas.
• Last week, Stefano Margaritora, the surgeon who operated on the pope, said there were “no clinical reasons” why he wouldn’t be able to travel, and estimated him to recover within 10 days after the operation.

What's still developing

• The pope said the removal surgery is planned in the “coming days."
• “During some check-ups, doctors discovered a localized nodule on my lung,” the 71-year-old Pope Leo told people who gathered in St Peter’s Square for the Angelus prayer on Sunday.
• Health problems clouded over previous popes, with Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, spending an extended period in hospital and facing multiple health difficulties in the final months of his life.
• Leo is relatively young for a pope, and generally seen to be in good health.
• Pope Francis, in a message in 2013 for the priest’s beatification — a ceremony scheduled before the Argentine pope was elected — said Father Brochero “did not stay in the sacristy combing the sheep,” but went out in search of the lost.
• According to the Holy See Press Office, the Pope wants not only to stand alongside survivors but also to help develop accessible paths toward healing and ensure that the Church becomes a safe and spiritually healthy environment in which the Gospel can be lived and proclaimed.
• “May she shelter him beneath her mantle, strengthen him during this time of trial, and grant him serenity and solace.” Pope Leo is still scheduled to arrive in Uruguay on Nov.
• “The Pope is following medical recommendations with great care and diligence, and with a deep determination to continue serving the Church,” it added.
• MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay -- Lucía Pintos is training to become a teacher in Borro, a Uruguayan neighborhood hit hard by the spread of drug trafficking, where a parish that will welcome Pope Leo XIV in a few days serves as a fragile but much-needed refuge from violence.
• Bishops across the three countries expect the Pope’s tour to encourage missionary renewal, engage young people and strengthen calls for unity, peace and care for the Amazon Church leaders across Latin America have hailed Pope Leo XIV’s visit as a moment of renewal and encouragement for a continent that remains home to almost half of the world’s Catholics.
• The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics will begin in Uruguay, Latin America’s most secular country, where he will be welcomed by left-wing President Yamandu Orsi.
• “Based on his current clinical status, as well as the instrumental and laboratory tests performed, there are no contraindications that would prevent him from undertaking his upcoming apostolic journey to Latin America as planned,” Dr. Luigi Carbone, the papal doctor said in a statement released by the Holy See Press Office Oct. 26.

Sources

• ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videoslink
• Aleteia ENlink
• Argentina Reportslink
• Buenos Aires Heraldlink
• Dayton247Nowlink
• Diocese of Scrantonlink
• EWTN Newslink
• Enlink
• OSV Newslink
• The Catholic Heraldlink
• The Catholic Weeklylink
• The Tablet Catholic Newspaperlink
• Vaticannewslink
• Warpbeatlink
• ZENIT - Englishlink
• Angelusnewslink