World

Pope Leo Begins 12‑Day South American Tour After Lung Cancer Surgery

By Al Jazeera Staff

The 71‑year‑old Pope Leo XIV has arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay, to start a 12‑day tour of South America that will take him to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. He landed on Friday after a 13‑hour flight from Rome and told reporters he feels “fairly good.” Leo said, “I had no doubt and was convinced that this trip had to go forward. And I am very happy to say praise the Lord and thanks to wonderful medical assistance, I’m here today, I think in fairly good shape.” The pope’s three‑day itinerary in Uruguay includes a visit to a neighbourhood with heavy gang violence, a mass in Paysandú, about 375 kilometres (230 miles) from Montevideo, and another mass in the city of Florida, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the capital. Cardinal Daniel Sturla, archbishop of Montevideo, told AFP that there was “widespread interest in the pope’s visit that goes well beyond the confines of the Catholic Church,” with tickets for the masses in Paysandú and Florida selling out quickly. The trip is a homecoming for Leo, who will finish in Peru in three weeks, where he served for almost two decades as a missionary. He will visit the former Inca capital of Cusco, the Amazon rainforest and his former diocese of Chiclayo for a private visit to a chapel he helped rebuild. Leo said on Wednesday that he was looking forward to returning to a region “so dear to me.” He hopes the visit will “strengthen faith, renew hope, and rekindle the fire of charity” in the countries he is visiting, which face rising inequality and violence and a decline in Catholic followers. After an operation on October 13 to remove a cancerous tumour, doctors have cleared him to travel and the Vatican said no special medical measures were necessary beyond standard care on papal trips. Maria Montserrat Alvarado, the Vatican’s new communications chief, noted that Leo had passed the 14‑day convalescence period required by doctors after his surgery and was eager to get on the road.