Pope Leo XIV Leaves Rome for Latin America Mission
He departed Nov. 6 for Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, beginning a 12‑day visit just 24 days after lung surgery.
Pope Leo XIV left Rome at 7:05 a.m. on Nov. 6 aboard a chartered ITA Airways flight, beginning a 12-day apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. The aircraft was due in Montevideo at 4:30 p.m. local time after a flight of about 13 hours and 30 minutes. Some 80 journalists traveled with him.
The journey ran through Nov. 17. It was the sixth international trip of his pontificate and his first to Latin America since his election. It was also the longest of his papacy: 14 flights, nine public Masses, visits to seven cathedrals and two stadium prayer vigils, with return to Rome scheduled for the morning of Nov. 17.
Fitness After October Surgery
The departure came only 24 days after a lobectomy on Oct. 13 to remove the cancerous lower lobe of his right lung for localized lung adenocarcinoma. Physicians confirmed the following week that no further oncological treatment was required. Vatican officials said the South American program was not altered because of the hospitalization. On Nov. 3, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the Pope “is clinically fit to undertake this trip.” Maria Montserrat Alvarado, prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, added that the doctors “are very confident.”
Three Nations, One Mission of Unity
Uruguay, Nov. 6–8, is described as the most secularized country in Latin America and received a pope for the first time since St. John Paul II’s visit in 1988. Argentina, Nov. 8–11, is the homeland of Pope Francis, who never returned there as pope; Archbishop Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva of Buenos Aires has spoken of “a wounded Argentina, a divided Argentina.” Peru, Nov. 11–16, closed the itinerary: Leo arrived there as an Augustinian missionary in 1985, holds citizenship, and served as bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023.
Before the departure, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin stressed that “even in Latin America, there is more than ever the need to overcome deep social polarizations,” and that the Church’s primary mission is “to bear witness to unity, to be a ferment of peace, dialogue and harmony.”
At the Nov. 4 general audience, the Pope asked the faithful: “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.” During the overflight of Italy he sent a telegram to President Sergio Mattarella, entrusting the peace and fraternity of the peoples he would meet to the intercession of the Virgin Mary and the saints.