Pope Leo heads to South America

Pope Leo XIV begins a 12-day trip to South America on Friday, his longest trip abroad since being elected last year.

His first stop is Uruguay and its capital, Montevideo, where the head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics is expected in the evening.

Further destinations are neighbouring Argentina and Peru, where Leo spent more than 20 years as a missionary for the Augustinians and later as a bishop.

The U.S.-born pope also has Peruvian citizenship and speaks Spanish fluently.

Recently, there were doubts as to whether the 71-year-old pontiff could make the trip after his cancer diagnosis.

He underwent lung surgery in mid-October, during which part of his right lung was removed, but his doctors gave him the green light, saying that Leo is cancer-free.

According to the Vatican, the pope’s programme for this trip remains unchanged.

In addition to numerous meetings and masses, the programme includes an excursion to around 3,700 metres above sea level in the Peruvian Andes.

In South America, the share of Catholics is significantly higher than in Europe.

Unlike in Argentina and Peru, there is a strict separation between church and state in Uruguay.

Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, was a native of Argentina.

Francis died at Easter last year. He never returned to his homeland as pope.

Both Argentina and Peru are governed by right-wing populist heads of state, President Javier Milei and President Keiko Fujimori, respectively.

Yamandú Orsi, a member of a left-wing alliance, is Uruguay’s president.