Pope Leo XIV Departs Rome for 12-Day Latin America Tour Weeks After Lung Cancer Surgery

Pope Leo XIV left Rome on Friday for a 12-day trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, the longest foreign journey of his pontificate, just 24 days after surgery to remove part of his right lung.

A chartered ITA Airways plane carrying the 71-year-old pope took off from Rome’s Fiumicino International Airport at 7:05 a.m. local time, according to OSV News. The 13-and-a-half-hour flight covers more than 6,900 miles and was due to land in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, at 4:30 p.m. local time.

The Nov. 6-17 trip is the pope’s first visit to Latin America since his election, and it brings him back to the continent where he spent about two decades as a missionary priest and bishop in Peru. The schedule calls for 14 flights, 36 speeches and about 50 events across 10 cities, according to CNN.

Surgery three weeks ago

Leo underwent surgery on Oct. 13 to remove the lower lobe of his right lung after doctors found a small growth during routine checks. The growth was confirmed as localized lung adenocarcinoma, and his doctors said the following week that he did not need further treatment.

Vatican officials said no changes were made to the schedule to account for the surgery. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told reporters on Nov. 3 that the pope was “clinically fit to undertake this trip.” A medical team will travel with him, including doctors, nurses and an ambulance, which the Vatican said was the ordinary medical support that accompanies the pope.

The trip includes a stop in Cusco, Peru, more than 11,000 feet above sea level, where the air holds about 35 percent less oxygen. Dr. Matthew Triplette, a pulmonologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, told CNN the risk of a medical emergency during the trip was “low,” but said it could include a collapsed lung or blood clots. He said the pope might feel more tired with exertion at altitude.

Uruguay, Argentina and a homecoming in Peru

Leo will spend Nov. 6-8 in Uruguay, the most secularized country in Latin America and the first stop on the trip. It is the first papal visit there since John Paul II in 1988. He will visit Montevideo, Paysandu and Florida, where he will attend the annual pilgrimage to the National Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Thirty-Three on Nov. 8.

He arrives in Argentina on the afternoon of Nov. 8. The late Pope Francis, the first Argentine pope, never visited his home country during his pontificate, and the last papal visit to Argentina was by John Paul II in 1987. Leo will visit Buenos Aires, Cordoba and Lujan, where he will celebrate Mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lujan. His itinerary also includes a visit to a federal prison in Buenos Aires and a care center for people with intellectual and physical disabilities in Claypole.

The final and longest leg of the trip is in Peru, where Leo holds citizenship and served as bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023. He first arrived in the country as an Augustinian missionary priest in 1985. He will visit Lima, Chiclayo, Cusco and Pucallpa, a city on the Ucayali River in the Amazon rainforest. About 1.2 million people are expected to attend his final Mass of the trip at Las Palmas Airbase in Lima, according to CNN, and more than a million are expected at his Mass in Buenos Aires.

The Vatican said the pope will hold two meetings with abuse survivors during the trip, one in Argentina and one in Peru. The Vatican cleared the trip last month after his doctors said he could travel.

Before leaving, Leo asked for prayers at his Nov. 4 general audience. “I entrust myself to your prayers, that this trip may strengthen faith, renew hope, rekindle the fire of charity, and serve as an impetus to continue proclaiming the Gospel with joy,” he said.

Reporting based on coverage by CNN and OSV News.