Vatican City (AFP) – Pope Leo

Published on: 01/11/2026 - 05:19

The 71-year-old leader of the Catholic Church had surgery less than three weeks ago to remove a cancerous tumor, but doctors say he does not need further treatment and have given him the green light for the 11-day trip to South America.

Léon said he "looks forward to returning to the continent where [he] lived so many moments of [his] life", during this trip from November 6 to 17, which includes 12 flights, two helicopter rides and a high altitude prayer in the Andes.

Millions of faithful are expected to flock to see the pope, who will alternate pastoral meetings and speeches to officials, including Argentine President Javier Milei, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, whose relationship with the Church is strained.

Although the Vatican said Leo is still recovering, the pope will preside over more than 50 events, ranging from outdoor masses to meetings with indigenous people of the Amazon, victims of abuse by clergy, as well as the elderly, poor and disabled.

Closely monitored

"This will be the most closely watched trip of Leo's pontificate to date," Christopher White of Georgetown University in Washington, author of a book on Pope Leo, told AFP.

"It must have already been an intense journey... a feat even without his surgery. Now he will be even more scrutinized," he added.

The leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics will begin his trip in Uruguay, Latin America's most secular country, where he will be welcomed by left-wing President Yamandu Orsi.

This liberal country is at odds with the Catholic Church on same-sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia – legalized last year – and Leon is expected to launch an appeal for the protection of life.

The pontiff will then travel to Argentina, the homeland of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who disappointed many Argentines by not returning to visit his country during his pontificate.

Authorities expect seven million pilgrims to travel to Leon. In Buenos Aires, the pope will speak with Mr. Milei, a right-wing libertarian who had a strained relationship with Francis.

While Mr. Milei's exchanges with Léon proved less heated, local Church leaders did not hide their criticism of the heavy human cost of the president's efforts to revive a moribund economy, with millions of vulnerable citizens finding themselves on the threshold of poverty.

Return to the country

The trip to South America will culminate with an emotional return home to Peru. "I know he is looking forward to his return to Peru with great impatience. It has great meaning for him on a personal level... he was very determined to go," American Vatican expert Elise Ann Allen, author of a biography of the pope, told AFP.

Before becoming Leo XIV, Robert Francis Prevost served for nearly two decades in this Andean country, including as bishop in the coastal city of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023.

The first pontiff born in the United States in history, with Peruvian citizenship, he will celebrate a mass on a desert plain near the Pacific Ocean, before traveling to Cusco, the ancient Inca capital, then to Pucallpa, a city in the Amazon rainforest.

In Lima, he will meet the right-wing president of Peru, Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori, imprisoned for corruption and crimes against humanity, whose legacy she claims.

Leon is expected to address the ills plaguing Peru, from a vast crime wave fueled by sponsored killings and rampant extortion, to the cocaine industry — one of the largest in the world — and its impact on indigenous peoples.

He is also expected to discuss the country's political instability — Ms. Fujimori is Peru's ninth leader in ten years — and the importance of protecting the dignity of migrants in a country that is home to about 1.6 million Venezuelans.

Leo's visit to Cusco, at an altitude of 3,400 meters, will be brief — less than three hours — but highly scrutinized, amid questions about whether the pontiff underestimated his cancer.

“If the pope succeeds in carrying out this trip, it will only reinforce the image that most of the world has had of Leo since his election: that of a young, strong, vigorous pope,” argued Christopher White.

© 2026 AFP

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