Pope Leo XIV Starts 12-Day Latin America Tour 3 Weeks After Lung Cancer Surgery
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Nov 6
Pope Leo XIV Starts 12-Day Latin America Tour 3 Weeks After Lung Cancer Surgery
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Nov 6
Summary
Three weeks after lung cancer surgery, Pope Leo XIV has begun a 12-day trip through Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, with the Vatican insisting he made no changes to the schedule.
The 71-year-old had the lower lobe of his right lung removed after doctors found a tumour during a routine scan; his medical team later said the cancer had not spread.
Uruguay opens the tour with the country's first papal visit in four decades, before Leo heads to politically sensitive Argentina for meetings with leaders and large public events.
Peru is the emotional centerpiece: Leo, born in the US but also a Peruvian citizen, will return to Chiclayo, celebrate Mass in Cusco above 3,000 meters and visit the Amazon city of Pucallpa.
Across all three countries, he is due to meet survivors of clerical sexual abuse, as the Vatican uses the tour to signal both his recovery and a renewed papal engagement with Latin America.