MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Pope Leo XIV arrived in Uruguay on Friday to begin an ambitious 12-day South American tour, making his first foreign trip just three weeks after undergoing surgery for lung cancer.
The 71-year-old leader of the Roman Catholic Church touched down in Montevideo after a 13-hour flight from Rome. The Vatican estimated that roughly 30,000 onlookers lined the streets to watch the pontiff travel through the capital in his Popemobile, though NPR reported that the gathering at the central Plaza Independencia was considerably smaller.
Speaking to reporters aboard the papal aircraft, Leo dismissed earlier doubts about his ability to undertake the rigorous journey. He said he felt in “fairly good shape” following his Oct. 13 operation, during which surgeons excised the lower lobe of his right lung after finding a tumor during a regular scan. Vatican officials said the cancer had not spread and confirmed that the pope completed his mandatory two-week convalescence before departing.
Challenging secular policies
During a formal welcome outside the cathedral with Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi, Leo delivered remarks in Spanish that praised the nation’s clean energy transition while highlighting social concerns. He referenced Uruguay’s suicide rate, which is the highest in Latin America, alongside broader mental health struggles. Drawing on his recent medical ordeal, the pontiff argued that healthcare must be made accessible to everyone regardless of their financial means.
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The pope also addressed Uruguay’s secular legal landscape. The country decriminalized abortion in 2012 and legalized assisted dying in 2025, both of which conflict directly with Vatican doctrine. An earlier plan for Leo to speak before the national parliament was withdrawn following pushback from politicians and the public, NPR reported.
“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,” Leo told the gathering.
A rigorous regional itinerary
Uruguay represents the most secular leg of an itinerary that spans three countries, 10 cities and 12 flights. Analysts noted that only about one-third of Uruguayans identify as Catholic, and church attendance remains low compared with other Latin American countries.
On Saturday, Leo was scheduled to visit Casavalle, a working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of Montevideo dealing with gang violence, before holding masses in Florida and Paysandú. Cardinal Daniel Sturla, the archbishop of Montevideo, told Agence France-Presse that tickets for the upcoming outdoor services were claimed rapidly.
On Sunday evening, the pontiff is set to travel to Argentina, the homeland of his predecessor Pope Francis, who never visited his native country while serving as pope. In Buenos Aires, Leo will navigate relations with President Javier Milei, whose sweeping economic austerity program has drawn scrutiny from church leaders focused on poverty relief. Leo has also clashed with U.S. President Donald Trump over the treatment of migrants.
The journey will conclude in Peru, where Leo spent nearly two decades as a missionary and later as the bishop of Chiclayo before becoming a naturalized Peruvian citizen in 2015. His planned stops include the Amazon basin, his former northern diocese, and the high-altitude Andean city of Cusco, which sits more than 11,000 feet above sea level and may test his recovering respiratory stamina.
