Just weeks after having part of his right lung removed, Pope Leo XIV is boarding a plane for South America. The 71-year-old pontiff kicks off a 12-day, three-country tour on Friday, Nov. 6, touching down in Uruguay, Argentina and finally Peru, where he'll stay until Nov. 17.
The schedule is nothing short of relentless: more than 50 activities, 36 speeches, 12 commercial flights and two helicopter transfers, plus religious celebrations in cities from Montevideo to Cusco. That's a demanding programme for anyone, let alone a man recovering from surgery for pulmonary adenocarcinoma, confirmed after tissue analysis at Rome's Agostino Gemelli hospital in late October. Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni has stressed the pope has no chronic illness and is fully recovered, while new communications chief Maria Montserrat Alvarado said the trip would go ahead "without any changes."
The itinerary opens in Montevideo on Nov. 6, with a welcome at Plaza Independencia, meetings with the president and civil society, a Mass in Paysandu on Nov. 7, and an evening prayer vigil with young people at Estadio Centenario. From there it's on to Buenos Aires on Nov. 8, where the pope will meet President Javier Milei, celebrate Mass at the Monument to the Spaniards, visit the Don Orione Little Cottolengo in Claypole, tour a penitentiary, stop in Cordoba, and pray at the Basilica of Our Lady of Lujan.
The emotional heart of the trip, though, is Peru. Before his election, Robert Francis Prevost spent nearly two decades there as a bishop, took Peruvian citizenship, and calls the country a second home. He lands in Lima on Nov. 11 and will travel to Chiclayo — where he served — celebrating Mass at the Pampas de Pimentel on Nov. 13, then flying by helicopter to Santa Cruz de Succhabamba for another Eucharist the next day. Zana, Cusco and Pucallpa follow, with a meeting with missionaries and Amazonian communities in the latter.
For travellers, this is a week to plan around. Expect significant security perimeters, road closures and packed crowds in central Montevideo, Buenos Aires and Lima, plus heavy demand for domestic flights and hotels in Chiclayo and Cusco around the pope's dates. If you're heading to Peru in mid-November, book ahead — or embrace it: a papal Mass at Pampas de Pimentel or a vigil in Buenos Aires will be a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle for those who happen to be there.
Story via Colombia One
