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Pope Leo XIV Set for Ambitious South America Tour

Updated 1:24 AM ET · 12:24 AM ETConfirmed

Faith Desk

In Short: Pope Leo XIV will embark on a 11-day tour of South America, including Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, despite undergoing lung cancer surgery.

Pope Leo XIV, the 71-year-old head of the Catholic Church, is set to embark on a 11-day tour of South America from November 6 to 17, 2026, despite undergoing lung cancer surgery fewer than three weeks ago. According to AFP and CBS News, the tour will include 12 flights, two helicopter trips, and a high-altitude prayer in the Andes.

Leo will lead over 50 events during the tour, ranging from open-air masses to meetings with Indigenous peoples, clerical abuse victims, and the elderly, poor, and disabled. CBS News quoted the Vatican press office as saying, 'May this journey be an occasion for us to open our hearts to one another, strengthen our communion as brothers and sisters, and renew our commitment to proclaiming the Gospel with joy.'

The tour will begin in Uruguay, where Leo will be welcomed by left-wing President Yamandu Orsi. According to AFP, Globalnation, and Kuwait Times, the pope will then travel to Argentina, the homeland of his predecessor Pope Francis, who did not return to visit during his papacy.

Leo will also visit Peru, where he spent more than two decades working as a missionary and bishop. CBS News noted that the trip holds particular personal significance for the first American-born pope. 'If the pope is able to pull this off, it will only bolster the image that much of the world has had of Leo since his election -- of a youthful, strong, vigorous pope,' Christopher White of Georgetown University told AFP.

Leo's visit to Cusco, Peru, at an altitude of more than 11,000 feet, will last under three hours but will be closely watched, amid questions over whether the pope has underestimated his cancer or beaten it with apparent ease. According to Kuwait Times and AFP, the visit to Cusco remains on the schedule.

The Vatican press office said Leo's recovery continues to progress in line with favorable assessments from his medical team. CBS News quoted the pope's physician, Luigi Carbone, as saying there’s no medical reason preventing Leo’s trip to South America.

Despite the ambitious nature of the trip, Leo expressed his excitement about returning to South America. 'This was already going to be an intense trip... A feat even without his surgery. Now, it will be even more scrutinised,' he said.

The tour will provide an opportunity for Leo to strengthen ties with local churches, encourage the faithful, and promote a message of faith, hope, and peace in Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru. According to CBS News, the Vatican said the visit will be an occasion for the pope to open hearts, strengthen communion, and renew commitment to proclaiming the Gospel with joy.

Background

What's confirmed

• Leo has said he is "looking forward to returning to the continent where I've experienced so many moments of my life" with the November 6 to 17 tour, which includes 12 flights, two helicopter trips, and a high-altitude prayer in the Andes.
• The 71-year-old head of the Catholic Church underwent an operation fewer than three weeks ago to remove a cancerous tumour, but doctors say he requires no further treatment and have given him the all-clear for the 11-day South America trip.
• Though the Vatican has said Leo is still in recovery, the pope will lead over 50 events, from open-air masses to meetings with Indigenous peoples in the Amazon, clerical abuse victims, and the elderly, poor and disabled.
• The head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics will start his trip in Uruguay, Latin America's most secular country, where he will be welcomed by left-wing President Yamandu Orsi.
• "This will be the most closely watched trip of Leo's papacy to date," Christopher White of Georgetown University in Washington and author of a book on Pope Leo, told AFP.
• Millions of faithful are expected to flock to see the pope, who will mix pastoral encounters with speeches to leaders including Argentine President Javier Milei, a close ally of US President Donald Trump whose relationship with the Church is strained.
• The pontiff will then travel to Argentina, the homeland of his predecessor Pope Francis, who disappointed many Argentinians by not returning to visit during his papacy.
• "I know he's very much looking forward to his return to Peru. It means a lot to him personally... he has been very determined to go," US Vatican expert Elise Ann Allen, who has written a biography of the pope, told AFP.
• "If the pope is able to pull this off, it will only bolster the image that much of the world has had of Leo since his election -- of a youthful, strong, vigorous pope," White said.
• Pope Leo XIV is about to embark on one of the most ambitious papal foreign trips in decades, touring Uruguay, Argentina and his adopted homeland Peru, despite recent lung cancer surgery.
• His visit to Cusco, at 3,400 meters, will last under three hours but will be closely watched, amid questions over whether the pope has underestimated his cancer or beaten it with apparent ease.
• The Vatican press office said the pope’s recovery continues to progress in line with favorable assessments from his medical team.

What's still developing

• "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," the Vatican said in a statement on Monday.
• Pope Leo XIV delivers the Angelus noon prayer in St.
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• Stefano Margaritora told Vatican News, adding that he expected the pope to recover fully from surgery “in another 10 days or so.” Leo, 71, is scheduled to make an ambitious Nov.
• "The Pope is following medical recommendations with great care and diligence, and with a deep determination to continue serving the Church."
• Doubts about the pope's ability to undergo the South American trip surfaced again last week, when, on the advice of his doctors, Leo canceled a visit by helicopter to Assisi for an international peace gathering to take place Tuesday.

Sources

• AFPlink
• CBS Newslink
• Globalnationlink
• Kuwait Timeslink
• New York Daily Newslink
• PBSlink
• TelegraphHerald.comlink
• Abc7link
• Bostonheraldlink
• Abcnewslink
• Kwtxlink
• WarpBeat — background on Pope Leo XIV to Visit South America After Cancer Surgery link
• WarpBeat — background on Pope Leo XIV Confirms Latin America Trip After Lung Surgery link
• Wikipedia — background on South America link
• EWTN Radio — video link