Less than three weeks after cancer surgery, Pope Leo sets off on 11-day South America tour
Photo: Collected
Having recovered from the strain of recent lung cancer surgery, Pope Leo XIV, head of the Catholic Church, is set to tour three South American countries: Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, the last of which is known as his own country.
It is being seen as one of the most ambitious foreign trips in decades, news agency AFP reported.
The 71-year-old pope had a cancerous tumour surgically removed less than three weeks ago. Doctors have said he needs no further treatment, and he has been declared physically fit for the 11-day South America tour.
Expressing his enthusiasm for the trip, scheduled from 6 to 17 November, Pope Leo said, ‘I look forward to returning to the continent where I spent many memorable moments of my life.’
During the tour he will have to take 12 flights and two helicopter rides, and also take part in a special prayer high in the Andes.
Millions of Catholic faithful are expected to gather to catch a glimpse of the pope. Alongside various religious and pastoral programmes, he will meet leaders of different countries, including Argentine President Javier Milei.
The Vatican said the pope is still in the process of recovering after surgery. Even so, he will take part in more than 50 events. These include open-air prayers and religious gatherings, and meetings with Indigenous communities of the Amazon region, victims of abuse by clergy, the elderly, the poor and people with disabilities.
Christopher White, a researcher at Georgetown University in Washington, has written a book about Pope Leo. He told AFP, ‘This will be Leo’s most closely watched trip as pope so far.’ He added, ‘Even without the surgery, this trip would have been quite busy and challenging. Now, because of his physical condition, the trip will come under even more scrutiny.’
As religious leader of around 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide, the pope will begin the tour in Uruguay, the most secular country in Latin America. There he will be welcomed by the country’s left-wing President Yamandú Orsi.
Uruguay’s liberal society differs from the Catholic Church on several issues: same-sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia. Euthanasia was legalised in the country last year. Against this backdrop, Pope Leo is expected to speak in favour of protecting life.
His next destination is Argentina, the homeland of his predecessor Pope Francis. Francis’s failure to visit his home country during his papacy caused disappointment among many Argentines. Officials estimate that about 7 million pilgrims will gather to welcome Pope Leo.
President Javier Milei will meet the pope in Buenos Aires. The right-wing libertarian leader had a rather tense relationship with the former Pope Francis. Although Milei’s contact with Pope Leo has been comparatively less heated, leaders of the country’s Catholic Church have been harshly criticising the president’s economic recovery measures. In their view, ordinary people are paying a heavy human cost for these measures; in particular, millions of people from poor and vulnerable groups in society have fallen into extreme financial hardship.
In the final leg of the tour, Pope Leo will go to Peru, where he worked for many years and of which he is a citizen. His return there is expected to be emotional. Papal biographer and US Vatican expert Elise Ann Allen told AFP, ‘I know he is eagerly looking forward to going back to Peru. Personally, this trip is very important to him. He is extremely determined to go there.’
Pope Leo XIV’s former name is Robert Francis Prevost. He served in Peru for nearly two decades, including as bishop of the coastal city of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023. Leo, the world’s first US-born pope and a Peruvian citizen, will lead a prayer on a desert plain near the country’s Pacific coast. He will then travel to Cusco, the former capital of the Inca Empire, and to Pucallpa, a city in the Amazon rainforest.
In the capital, Lima, the pope will meet Peru’s right-wing President Keiko Fujimori. Keiko is the daughter of the country’s late former president Alberto Fujimori. Her father was imprisoned for corruption and crimes against humanity; Keiko still values her father’s political legacy.
The pope may also speak about Peru’s various crises. These include rising crime centred on contract killings and widespread extortion, one of the world’s largest cocaine production and trade industries and its impact on Indigenous communities. He may also speak on the country’s political instability and on protecting the dignity and rights of migrants.
Keiko Fujimori is Peru’s ninth head of state in the past decade. About 1.6 million Venezuelans now live in the country.
The pope’s visit to Cusco, located 3,400 metres above sea level, will be brief, less than three hours. However, this part will be watched particularly closely for health reasons. There is also the question of whether, after the surgery, the pope is properly weighing his own cancer risk or has recovered faster than expected.
Background
According to a 26 October Reuters report, the lower lobe of the pope’s right lung was removed in surgery on 13 October, and lung adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer, was diagnosed. An AFP report published in Ahram Online said he had cancelled a scheduled visit to Assisi on 27 October on doctors’ advice.
By the numbers
By Reuters’ count, the pope is due to travel about 31,000 kilometres and deliver 36 speeches in 10 cities on this tour, Pakistan’s The Express Tribune reported on 27 October.
At a glance
According to a 26 October Associated Press report, this is the first major health event in Leo’s 17 months as pope.
Sources
Original report: BSS
Background sources: Reuters (KSL), 26 October 2026; Ahram Online, 26 October 2026; The Express Tribune, 27 October 2026; Associated Press (WSB-TV), 26 October 2026
