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Pope Leo Begins First Latin America TripWorld
Pope Leo XIV has begun an 11-day journey across Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, his first trip to Latin America as pontiff and his longest overseas visit so far.
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Pope Leo XIV began his first journey to Latin America as pontiff on Friday, flying from Rome to Montevideo at the start of an 11-day trip that will take him through Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. The visit, which runs until 17 November, is the longest overseas journey of his pontificate so far and his first to the region since he became pope last year.
According to the Vatican, the pope will spend 6 to 8 November in Uruguay, 8 to 11 November in Argentina and 11 to 17 November in Peru. The itinerary covers about 31,000 kilometres and 14 flights, making it one of the most demanding overseas tours undertaken by a Catholic leader in decades. He is due to arrive in Montevideo on Friday afternoon, where a welcome ceremony is planned at Plaza Independencia, followed by meetings with the authorities and a visit to the country’s president.
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The trip comes only weeks after the 71-year-old pontiff underwent surgery for lung cancer. Doctors removed a malignant tumour from his right lung on 13 October, and the Vatican said he had been cleared for international travel, with the ambitious itinerary unchanged.
A return to familiar ground
For Pope Leo, the journey is in many ways a homecoming. Born in the United States, he is the first US-born pontiff, but he is also a citizen of Peru, where he spent years as a missionary and served as bishop of Chiclayo in the country’s north-west from 2015 to 2023. His itinerary in Peru includes a return to Chiclayo, along with visits to Lima, Cusco and Pucallpa in the Amazon region.
In Argentina, the homeland of his predecessor Pope Francis, he will visit Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Luján, where he will celebrate Mass at the shrine of Our Lady of Luján, Argentina’s patroness. It will be the first papal visit to Argentina since Pope John Paul II travelled there in 1987, as Pope Francis never returned to his home country during his pontificate.
In Uruguay, the pope will visit Montevideo, Paysandú and Florida, home to the National Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Thirty-Three. Uruguay is one of the most secular countries in the region, and the Vatican said the pope would meet a local community engaged in social outreach and visit the Catholic University of Uruguay.
A region where faith is changing
Latin America remains the world’s largest Catholic stronghold, but Catholic identity has been shrinking steadily across the region even as belief in God remains strong, according to Reuters. During the trip, the pope is expected to celebrate outdoor Masses that could draw millions of people, address political leaders, join youth vigils and reach remote Andean communities by helicopter.
The Vatican has not released full details of every engagement, saying the complete itineraries would be published later. The pope is due to return to Rome on 17 November.
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