Pope Leo XIV, who had cancer surgery just weeks ago, begins grueling South American tour

Pope Leo departs for South American tour less than a month after cancer surgery 01:54Get more newsonShareAdd NBC News to GoogleNov. 6, 2026, 11:02 AM ESTBy Claudio LavangaABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT — Three countries in 12 days, a dozen flights, two helicopter rides and nine Masses on a trip covering around 19,000 miles. Less than a month after Pope Leo XIV underwent cancer surgery, he set off on what the Vatican called a “homecoming” tour of South America.

The 71-year-old’s long trip across the strongly Catholic region will take him to Uruguay and Argentina, as well as to Peru, where he lived for decades and served as a bishop until 2023.

Leo considers the tour, one of the most grueling undertaken by a Catholic leader in decades, a “homecoming to places where he spent a long time and to which he feels closely connected,” Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni told journalists at a briefing Tuesday.

The Chicago-born pontiff, who is also a citizen of Peru, told pilgrims at his weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday that he was ⁠hoping to “strengthen the faith, renew hope” and “rekindle the fire of charity.”

Leo will hold several meetings with survivors of sexual abuse by ​Catholic clergy during the trip, the Vatican has said, without yet providing further details.

Bruni said the pope would also address a range of issues facing the continent, including environmental destruction, ⁠arms trafficking and regional political instability, bringing “a message of communion and unity.”

Leo during a memorial Mass for cardinals and bishops who died over the past year, at St. Peter's Basilica on Thursday.Matteo Pernaselci / GettyLeo departed from Rome’s Fiumicino Airport early ​Friday, and ⁠is due to arrive in Uruguay at 4:30 p.m. local time (2:30 p.m. ET) for the country’s first papal visit since 1988.

Considered the most secular country in the region, where only a fraction of people go to Mass regularly, Uruguay was the first in the world to legalize marijuana for recreational use and the second country in Latin America to decriminalize abortion.

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After Uruguay, Leo’s tour will take him to Argentina for three days, where he is expected to meet with right-wing President Javier Milei, a close ally of President Donald Trump.

Pope John Paul II blesses a sick girl in Argentina in 1987. Derrick Ceyrac / AFP via GettyIt will be the first papal visit to Argentina since Pope John Paul II traveled to the country in 1987.

Leo’s immediate predecessor, Pope Francis, was born in Argentina, the first pontiff from the region, but he declined numerous invitations to return to his homeland.

The biggest crowds of the trip are likely next week during his six-day visit to Peru, where Leo is widely celebrated as a beloved national figure. He will stop off in the capital, Lima, before visiting his former diocese of Chiclayo, where he was ordained bishop in 2014 and remained until taking up a Vatican post in 2023.

Leo, who was treated last month for lung ‌adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer, will also make several high-altitude visits in the Peruvian Andes.

Doctors have ⁠said that the disease was localized and that he would not require any further treatments; Bruni said Leo had recovered enough that no additional medical measures ⁠would be necessary during his trip.

Speaking at the same briefing Tuesday, Maria Montserrat Alvarado, the Vatican’s new communications chief, said Leo was grateful for the concern about his health and the demands the journey might make on him.

But, she said, he was “so excited” to make the trip.

Claudio LavangaClaudio Lavanga is Rome-based foreign correspondent for NBC News.