The Pope is kicking off a three-nation tour of Latin America with a visit to Uruguay, the region’s least Catholic and most secular country, just three weeks after undergoing lung cancer surgery.
Leo XIV is due to arrive in Montevideo after a 13-and-a-half hour flight from Rome.
He has a packed three-day itinerary in Uruguay including a visit to an area plagued by gang violence, a Mass in Paysandú, some 230 miles from the capital, and another Mass in the city of Florida, about 60 miles away.
The Uruguay leg is the first stop on what will be the longest and farthest trip of Leo’s pontificate, all being undertaken as the 71-year-old pope continues his recovery.
The trip will also bring him to Argentina and finally back home to Peru, where Leo served as a missionary priest and bishop for two decades.
“His stamina is fantastic. The way that he’s singing is incredible. And you can only sing if your lungs are really strong,” said Maria Montserrat Alvar, the Vatican’s new communications chief.
She noted that Leo has passed the 14-day convalescence period required by doctors after his October 13 surgery and is eager to get on the road.
“His doctors are very confident and he’ll have plenty of medical care on board should something happen, but we don’t see that in his prognosis or even in the way that he’s acting,” she said.
In Uruguay, which has not had a papal visit since 1988, Leo is expected to try to remind the 3.5 million people of their strong Catholic heritage stemming from the times of Spanish colonial rule.
He is likely to propose the faith anew as an answer to today’s challenges and problems.
Upon arrival, Leo will meet with the country’s president Yamandú Orsi, leader of the centre-left alliance that assumed power in Uruguay in March 2025, and then deliver his welcome address to government officials and diplomats.
He finishes the long day with a vespers service at the city’s cathedral.
Share