Pope Leo begins 12-Day, 3-country tour after cancer surgery

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — In his first trip following lung cancer surgery, Pope Leo XIV has left Rome for what will be his furthest and longest journey: a 12-day, three-country visit to South America. Vatican officials say the 71-year-old pontiff is exhibiting "fantastic" stamina.

Along the way Leo will take 12 flights, including two helicopter rides, give 36 speeches and visit 10 cities including Cusco, Peru, which sits more than 11,000 feet above sea level. Even the heartiest of travellers can experience altitude sickness there and may require supplemental oxygen.

Last month, Leo underwent surgery to remove the lower lobe of his right lung. Vatican officials say he's completed the two-week long recovery period and requires no further treatment.

The Vatican's new communications chief Maria Montserrat Alvar said the pontiff was eager to begin his journey. "His doctors are very confident and he'll have plenty of medical care on board should something happen," she said.

First stop Uruguay

It's a puzzling choice for the first leg of the pope's anticipated return to South America, where he spent two decades in Peru, first as a missionary then as Bishop of the coastal city of Chiclayo. Uruguay, a small nation of around 3.5 million people, where adoring crowds will be small, is famously Latin America's most secular nation.

When asked why go to Uruguay at all, given the high rate of atheists and strict separation of church and state, Communications Chief Alvarado answered simply, "Why Not?" Adding, "the Gospel is meant to go everywhere."

Few welcome banners are seen throughout the capital Montevideo, except for large posters of a waving Pope Leo adorning city churches. A huge banner drapes down the facade of the Blessed Sacrament Church, in Montevideo's upscale Pocitos neighborhood, where 70-year old retiree Ana Maria Saprissa was heading for quiet prayer.

We are thankful, agradecida, she says that the pontiff is coming to visit. "His visit gives us such joy because …he remembered us all here in this tiny country that has so many needs," she said.

Uruguay's tradition of separating religion from government and public life dates back more than a century. Christmas has long been officially referred to as Family Day, while Easter week is given the vacation-friendly name Tourism Week.

Only about a third of Uruguayans identify as Catholics and even less say they practice the religion, according to political analyst Mariana Pomiés , director of the public polling firm CIFRA.

But as a practicing Catholic, Pomies says sometimes Uruguayan and especially officials misinterpret what secularism is. "Secularism is not anti-religion, it's the neutrality of the state in religious matters. But here the neutrality se convirtió en un absoluto… it became an absolute."

Pope celebrates 'positive secularism.'

Dozens of volunteers cleaned streets, mowed lawns and erected a simple stage outside the tiny brick Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. It's the focal spot for many in the Casavalle neighborhood, a working-class city about a half hour north of Montevideo, where the pope is scheduled to visit on Saturday.

"I am very happy, very glad, very grateful … that eyes have been set here," where many are forgotten and stigmatized, said Father Pablo Coimbra who's served as the community's pastoral leader for the past six years

"For the first time many people live their lives always on the margins, on the margins of opportunities, of possibilities, of the future, on the margins of a loving gaze... well, today they are in the heart, in the center," he said.

A proposed papal address to the parliament triggered a swift rebuke from the public and politicos alike and was quickly scrapped. However, Uruguay's left-wing President Yamandú Orsi will oversee a welcome ceremony outside Montevideo's main cathedral, where Leo will later celebrate evening prayers, vespers with church leaders and laypeople.

Sunday mass will take place in Florida, about an hour outside the capital, a town replete with Catholic and national pride. Every Nov. 8, church goers commemorate the Virgin of the Thirty-five, a symbol of Uruguay's independence movement from the Brazilian empire in 1825.

A long awaited Papal return to Argentina

By Sunday, Pope Leo will be in neighboring Argentina, fulfilling a wish of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who had hoped to return to his homeland but never made the trip.

Before his death, Francis had said he didn't want a papal visit to become entangled in Argentina's intensely polarized politics.

Pope Leo's visit to Argentina offers an early test of how he will address the Catholic Church's differences with right-wing populist leaders gaining ground across Latin America. Those tensions have also surfaced in the U.S., where Leo has clashed with President Donald Trump over immigration and the treatment of migrants.

Far-right President Javier Milei's sweeping austerity measures, which have pushed millions of Argentines into poverty, could put him at odds with Leo, who has long championed the poor.

Milei has also embraced data centers and a largely unfettered approach to artificial intelligence regulation, while Pope Leo's inaugural encyclical called for ethical caution and safeguards to protect human dignity in the age of AI.

Saving the best for last?

The final leg of the trip will take Leo back to Peru in what has been billed as a homecoming.

As a missionary priest and later appointed Bishop of the coastal city of Chiclayo, Pope Leo spent two decades in the country. He became a naturalized Peruvian in 2015, and has said the country shaped his life more than anything else.

He will visit several cities and towns where he lived and will meet with President Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of former Peruvian dictator Alberto Fujimori.

As a priest during the Fujimori dictatorship, Leo was openly critical of military violence and human rights abuses and supported efforts leading to Peru's Truth and Reconciliation Commission following the return to democracy.

But for many Uruguayans Pope Leo is not very well known. Walking past the huge stage set up for Leo's welcoming ceremony, Juan Martin Guerreiro said he wasn't sure he would attend the pope's speeches.

"He doesn't feel as influential to me … as Pope Francis," said Guerreiro. But he said he's willing to give the new pope a change because he is South American.