Pope Leo XIV will begin Latin America tour in Uruguay after cancer surgery

Associated Press · Nicole Winfield · 2026-11-06 05:01 UTC

Pope Leo XIV is kicking off a three-nation tour of Latin America with a visit to Uruguay. The South American country is the region’s least Catholic and most secular country. The trip comes three weeks after he underwent lung cancer surgery that had put the entire trip into question. Leo is due to arrive in Montevideo on Friday after a 13½-hour flight from Rome. He has a packed three-day itinerary including a visit to a neighborhood plagued by gang violence and a Mass in Paysandú. The city is around 375 kilometers or 230 miles from the capital. The pope has another Mass in Florida. That city is about 100 kilometers or 60 miles away from Montevideo. Vatican officials say his stamina is “fantastic” and that he's eager to get on the road.

After cancer surgery, Pope Leo embarks on Latin America trip with a first stop in secular Uruguay

ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV is kicking off a three-nation tour of Latin America on Friday with a visit to Uruguay, the region’s least Catholic and most secular country, three weeks after undergoing lung cancer surgery that had put the entire trip into question.

Leo is due to arrive in Montevideo after a 13½-hour flight from Rome. He has a packed three-day itinerary in Uruguay including a visit to a neighborhood plagued by gang violence, a Mass in Paysandú, around 375 kilometers (230 miles) from the capital, and another Mass in the city of Florida, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) away from Montevideo.

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