Updated November 6, 2026 at 6:29 PM PST
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Pope Leo XIV has arrived in South America for a 12-day, three-country journey that will be his longest and most far-reaching trip yet, and his first major overseas visit since undergoing lung cancer surgery.
Along the way Leo will take 12 flights, including two helicopter rides, give 36 speeches and visit 10 cities including Cusco, Peru, which sits more than 11,000 feet above sea level. Even the heartiest of travelers can experience altitude sickness there and may require supplemental oxygen.
Last month, Leo underwent surgery to remove the lower lobe of his right lung. Vatican officials say he has completed his two-week recovery period and requires no further treatment.
The Vatican's new communications chief Maria Montserrat Alvarado said the pontiff was eager to begin his journey. "His doctors are very confident and he'll have plenty of medical care on board should something happen," she said.
A welcome in Montevideo
A proposed papal address to the parliament triggered a swift rebuke from the public and politicians alike and was quickly scrapped. Instead, Uruguay's left-wing President Yamandú Orsi presided over the welcome ceremony outside Montevideo's main cathedral.
Crowds of up to 30,000 people, according to the Vatican, had lined the streets to catch a glimpse of Pope Leo as he drove past in his Popemobile.
But the crowd gathered to greet him at the central Plaza Independencia was much smaller, not even filling half the length of the vast square. Those who came were nonetheless delighted to see him and hear his message.
The Pope wasted little time addressing Uruguay's secular traditions and its liberal laws on abortion and euthanasia. Uruguay was the first country in Latin America to legalize euthanasia through legislation, and, in 2012, became the second in the region to legalize abortion, after Cuba.
Speaking in Spanish, Leo emphasized the importance of protecting family life and delivered a pointed criticism of both laws.
He said: "It is everyone's responsibility to ensure that each person can live with dignity, receive the care they need, and be accompanied until the natural end of his or her life."
Uruguay: An unlikely first stop
It's a puzzling choice for the first leg of the pope's anticipated return to South America, where he spent two decades in Peru, first as a missionary then as Bishop of the coastal city of Chiclayo. Uruguay, a small nation of around 3.5 million people, where adoring crowds will be small, is famously Latin America's most secular nation.
When asked why go to Uruguay at all, given the high rate of atheists and strict separation of church and state, communications chief Alvarado answered simply, "Why Not?" Adding, "the Gospel is meant to go everywhere."
Few welcome banners are seen throughout the capital Montevideo, except for large posters of a waving Pope Leo adorning city churches. A huge banner drapes down the facade of the Blessed Sacrament Church, in Montevideo's upscale Pocitos neighborhood, where 70-year old retiree Ana Maria Saprissa was heading for quiet prayer.
We are thankful, agradecida, she says that the pontiff is coming to visit. "His visit gives us such joy because … he remembered us all here in this tiny country that has so many needs," she says.
Uruguay's tradition of separating religion from government and public life dates back more than a century. Christmas has long been officially referred to as Family Day, while Easter week is given the vacation-friendly name Tourism Week.
Only about a third of Uruguayans identify as Catholics and even less say they practice the religion, according to political analyst Mariana Pomiés , director of the public polling firm CIFRA.
But as a practicing Catholic, Pomiés says sometimes Uruguayan and especially officials misinterpret what secularism is. "Secularism is not anti-religion, it's the neutrality of the state in religious matters. But here the neutrality se convirtió en un absoluto … it became an absolute."
Dozens of volunteers cleaned streets, mowed lawns and erected a simple stage outside the tiny brick Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. It's the focal spot for many in the Casavalle neighbourhood, a working-class area about a half hour north of Montevideo, where the pope is scheduled to visit on Saturday.
"I am very happy, very glad, very grateful … that eyes have been set here," where many are forgotten and stigmatised, said Father Pablo Coimbra, who's served as the community's pastoral leader for the past six years.
On Sunday, he heads to Florida, a town about an hour outside the capital, for an open-air Mass at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Thirty-Three — a figure closely associated with Uruguay's struggle for independence from Brazilian rule in 1825.
A long awaited Papal return to Argentina
By Sunday evening, Pope Leo will be in neighboring Argentina, arriving in Buenos Aires on a visit that fulfils a wish of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who had hoped to return to his homeland but never made the journey.
Before his death, Francis had said he didn't want a papal visit to become entangled in Argentina's intensely polarized politics.
Pope Leo's visit to Argentina offers an early test of how he will address the Catholic Church's differences with right-wing populist leaders gaining ground across Latin America. Those tensions have also surfaced in the U.S., where Leo has clashed with President Trump over immigration and the treatment of migrants.
Far-right President Javier Milei's sweeping austerity measures, which have pushed millions of Argentines into poverty, could put him at odds with Leo, who has long championed the poor.
Milei has also embraced data centers and a largely unfettered approach to artificial intelligence regulation, while Pope Leo's inaugural encyclical called for ethical caution and safeguards to protect human dignity in the age of AI.
Saving the best for last?
The final stop is Peru, where Leo's visit is being billed as a homecoming.
As a missionary priest and later Bishop of the coastal city of Chiclayo, Pope Leo spent two decades in the country. He became a naturalized Peruvian in 2015, and has said the country shaped his life more than anything else.
He will visit several cities and towns where he lived and will meet with President Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of former Peruvian dictator Alberto Fujimori.
As a priest during the Fujimori dictatorship, Leo was openly critical of military violence and human rights abuses and supported efforts leading to Peru's Truth and Reconciliation Commission following the return to democracy.
But for many Uruguayans Pope Leo is not very well known. Walking past the huge stage set up for Leo's welcoming ceremony, Juan Martin Guerreiro said he wasn't sure he would attend the pope's speeches.
"He doesn't feel as influential to me … as Pope Francis," said Guerreiro. But he said he's willing to give the new pope a chance because he is South American.
When reminded that Pope Leo was born in Chicago, Guerreiro said he wouldn't hold that against him.
Copyright 2026 NPR
