The Pope in South America after cancer, 'ordinary assistance'

The Pope is ready for the trip to South America: it will be from 6 to 17 November in Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. A twelve-day tour de force that comes after the operation to remove the lung tumor. But the assistance that will concern his health will be "ordinary", assured the director of the Vatican press office Matteo Bruni in the briefing with journalists to present the trip. "There will be no particular precautions compared to those that normally occur", i.e. guaranteeing assistance "to a 71-year-old man who has undergone surgery and has returned to normal life". "There will be no special medical equipment," reiterated the Vatican spokesman.

On all trips the Pope is accompanied by medical and nursing staff. Even on the last trip, the one to France at the end of September, the Pope's personal doctor, Doctor Luigi Carbone, was on the papal flight.

And so the program is all confirmed, including the helicopter flights and that stop in Cuzco, Peru, which with its 3,500 meters of altitude is among the most delicate of the trip. But, as said in the meeting with the press, "it is a trip much awaited and desired by the Pope". There will be around forty texts that will be spoken by Prevost and they will all be in Spanish. Among the themes "attention to the most vulnerable, interest in prisoners, the fight against injustice". There will be "different meetings with young people", Bruni said again.

Debut in the Vatican press room for the new prefect of Communications, Maria Montserrat Alvarado, who greeted the journalists in the different working languages. And also in Italian: "Good afternoon, I'm learning, patience please", he said smiling.

Meanwhile, in the three countries ready to welcome the Pontiff, meetings with victims of abuse are also being prepared. And if in Uruguay it will be the archbishop of Montevideo, Cardinal Daniel Sturla, who delivers a letter from the victims to the Pope, in Argentina there will be a real meeting, as confirmed by the archdiocese of Buenos Aires. "Sexual abuse in the ecclesiastical context constitutes a civil crime, not a religious sin", states the Sobrevivientes organisation, announcing that Leone will be asked for 'zero tolerance' against this type of crime.

The US Bishop-Accountability association has instead announced that, on the occasion of Leo In Peru great scandals were caused by the Sodalicio congregation, suppressed in 2025.

If in Peru it will be a return 'home' for Prevost, and in Uruguay an opportunity to reawaken faith in the most secularized country in Latin America, in Argentina "the visit will cover that absence of Bergoglio, an enigma that he never returned to his homeland", comments Guzman Carriquiry, one of the leading experts on the Church in Latin America who has been in the service of the Holy See for almost half a century. And in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Buenos Aires, on November 9th, there will be a tribute to Bergoglio.