The Vatican confirmed Pope Leo XIV's journey to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru between November 6 and 17 after surgery that removed a malignant tumor from the right lung.
© Lusa
26/10/2026
by
Lusa
O The Vatican confirmed today the journey of Pope Leo XIV to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru between November 6 and 17 after surgery that resulted in the removal of a malignant tumor from the right lung.
“The Holy Father looks forward with great joy and enthusiasm to this journey, which will offer opportunities to strengthen the bonds of communion with the local Churches, encourage the faithful in their mission and bring a message of faith, hope and peace to the peoples of Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, meeting them in the faith and sharing the hope and peace that Christ brings to our world,” the Vatican said in a statement.
“ It fills me with joy to return to the continent in which I have lived so many moments of my life. May this journey be an occasion for us to open our hearts to each other, strengthen our communion as brothers and sisters and renew our commitment to proclaim the Gospel with joy”, said the Pope, quoted in the statement.
The current clinical situation of Leo XIV, as well as the results of the diagnostic tests and laboratory tests carried out confirm that “there are no contraindications preventing him from making, as planned, his next apostolic trip to Latin America,” the Vatican said, adding that the trip will take place “according to the program previously published”.
The Pope’s personal physician Luigi Carbone confirmed that the Pope’s post-operative recovery continues and that “the last medical examinations attest to his good health and favorable clinical condition”.
The surgery and diagnosis of the Pope's pulmonary adenocarcinoma, performed on October 13, at Gemelli hospital in Rome, took place less than a month after his trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru between November 6 and 16.
Leo XIV himself stated that he intended to keep the journey, after the Angelus prayer of the Sunday before the operation, in St Peter's Square, when he announced that it would be operated to remove a nodule from a lung, which only after removal could be analyzed and was then classified as malignant.
On this first Latin American voyage of its pontificate, up to 14 flights, more than 40 speeches and meetings, nine masses with a very public, as well as a visit to Cusco — a city more than 3,000 metres above sea level — are planned to travel by helicopter.
Last week, it was announced that the Pope will not need further treatment after surgery, since the definitive histological tests confirmed that the tumor was “located”.
In the last week, the 71-year-old Pope gradually resumed his activities, “adapting his daily schedule, in consultation with his doctors, to give priority to his recovery”.
Although born in the United States, being the first American Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, Robert Francis Prevost is considered in Peru “the Peruvian Pope”, since he adopted the nationality of the country after spending more than 20 years of his pastoral life there.
His announced visit to the cities of Lima, Cusco and Pucallpa, in addition to Chiclayo, a northern city of which he was bishop for eight years, is awaited with great expectation and emotion.