SÃO PAULO, Brazil – Pope Leo XIV’s South American tour, confirmed by the Vatican on Oct. 26 after his lung cancer surgery, is eagerly anticipated by Catholics across South America, especially those who knew then-Bishop Robert Prevost during his years in the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru.
The pontiff, who had the lower lobe of his right lung removed on Oct. 13 and has been recovering well since, will arrive in Montevideo, Uruguay, on the afternoon of Nov. 6, depart for Argentina on Nov. 8, and travel to Peru on Nov. 11. He will leave South America on Nov. 16 and return to Rome on Nov. 17.
The last time a pope visited Uruguay was nearly 40 years ago. In May 1988, Pope Saint John Paul II spent four days in the country, following a visit in March 1987. Since then, the share of Uruguayan Catholics has fallen from 60 percent in 1997 to just 33 percent today. More than 28 percent of the population now identifies as agnostic or atheist.
“The pope’s visit has been generating interest among Uruguayans. We hope it will represent a kind of springtime for the Church, bringing back people who have drifted away and renewing our missionary energy,” Bishop Milton Tróccoli of Maldonado-Punta del Este-Minas, who also serves as president of the Uruguayan Bishops’ Conference, told Crux Now.
The Uruguayan leg of the trip was planned by the Church to allow as many people as possible to participate. It will begin in the capital, Montevideo – home to half of the country’s population – where the pope will be welcomed in a central square shortly after his arrival and will meet with President Yamandú Orsi and other government officials.
That evening, he will celebrate Vespers with priests and men and women religious, delivering a homily.
“The following morning, the pope will travel to Paysandú, a city in northern Uruguay, where he will celebrate Mass. The city was selected because of its central location for people living north of the Río Negro,” Tróccoli explained.
In the afternoon, he will return to Montevideo, where he will visit the Casavalle neighborhood, a poor district where the Church has maintained 25 social programs over the past five decades.
“He will have an opportunity to meet vulnerable people and learn firsthand about the Church’s missionary work,” Tróccoli said.
Afterward, Pope Leo XIV will meet with Catholic school principals and teachers at the Catholic University of Uruguay and lead a prayer vigil at a stadium in Montevideo.
“His final event will be a Mass in Florida, where Uruguayans will celebrate the feast of Our Lady of the Thirty-Three, the country’s patroness. After that, he will travel to Buenos Aires,” Tróccoli explained.
In Argentina, the pontiff will meet large crowds who have eagerly awaited a papal visit for years. Argentines, of course, had hoped that Pope Francis, their fellow countryman, would be the one to return – but Jorge Bergoglio never visited his homeland again after being elected pope in 2013.
Pope Leo XIV’s schedule includes religious celebrations and visits to places where he will learn about the hardships faced by vulnerable Argentines, exacerbated by the economic crisis the country has endured over the past several years.
“The bishops and the Holy See agreed on the selection of the most suitable locations, with input from the federal government regarding security arrangements,” Father Maximo Jurcinovic, head of the press office of the Argentine Bishops’ Conference, told Crux Now.
He said that the “pastoral agenda was designed to give ample space to the different realities of the Church in Argentina and throughout the country.”
The Argentine leg will begin at 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 8, when the pontiff arrives in Buenos Aires. He will meet with President Javier Milei and other government officials at the Casa Rosada presidential palace after visiting the Independence Monument and attending an official welcome ceremony.
The following morning, Leo will visit Pequeño Cottolengo Don Orione, a Church-run home for people with disabilities in the city of Claypole, in Buenos Aires province. Its 400 residents receive not only therapeutic assistance but also educational opportunities and training to develop new skills.
Before lunch, the pontiff will celebrate Mass in Buenos Aires. In the afternoon, he will meet with labor union leaders and social movement organizers at the Catholic University of Argentina. Later, Leo will meet with leaders of Christian communities and celebrate Vespers with the country’s bishops.
The following morning, the pope will travel north to Córdoba, where he will celebrate Mass at 10 a.m. In the afternoon, he will meet with priests, men and women religious, and seminarians. He will then return to Buenos Aires to meet with young people that evening.
On his final day in Argentina, Leo will visit the Buenos Aires Federal Penitentiary Complex at 8 a.m. and then travel to Luján, where he will celebrate Mass at 10 a.m. at the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján, Argentina’s patroness. At 2 p.m., he will depart for Lima.
The Peruvian leg, the tour’s final and longest stage, will be particularly significant. The pope lived in Peru for nearly 20 years, beginning in the 1980s, and acquired Peruvian citizenship upon becoming Bishop of Chiclayo, a position he held for eight years.
“Leo will meet with his beloved Peruvian people, especially those living in his former Diocese of Chiclayo. He will also visit Lima, Callao, Cusco, and Pucallpa,” Father Juan Bytton, secretary-general of the committee organizing the pope’s visit to Peru, told Crux Now.
Leo will arrive in Callao at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 11 and meet with President Keiko Fujimori and other government officials. He will also deliver a speech at Lima’s Gran Teatro Nacional. The following morning, he will meet with the Peruvian bishops and then address the challenges facing the country’s people at a gathering in the square in front of the cathedral.
In the afternoon, he will meet with young people at the National Stadium.
“That will be a remarkable moment, because young people are our hope for a better future, and the pope has always had a special relationship with them,” Bytton said.
On Nov. 13, the pontiff will travel to Chiclayo, where he will celebrate Mass at 10:30 a.m. He will then make a private visit to the San Oscar Romero Chapel and meet with clergy and missionaries in the afternoon. At 5:45 p.m., Leo will meet with university students and professors at the Catholic University of Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo.
“Of course, he will also see old friends, priests, and pastoral agents. It will be an opportunity for him to rest among people he knows well,” Bytton said.
The following day, the pope will preside over the coronation of the image of the Immaculate Virgin at St. Mary’s Cathedral. He will then take a helicopter to the town of Santa Cruz de Succhabamba, where he will celebrate Mass at 11 a.m. Later, he will travel to the Shrine of St. Turibius of Mogrovejo in the district of Zaña.
The following morning, Leo will travel to Cusco. At 10:30 a.m., he will meet with Catholics at the archaeological site of Saqsaywaman and pray the Angelus in front of the local basilica. At 1:05 p.m., he will fly to Pucallpa, in the Peruvian Amazon.
At 3 p.m., he will meet with clergy and leaders of Amazonian communities – 21 groups will be represented, according to Bytton – and deliver a speech. Later, he will celebrate Mass, “the very first Mass of the current pope in the Amazon – a land so ravaged by illegal mining and other evils –, a sign of his care for our common home,” Bytton said.
At 8 p.m., he will return to Callao. On the final day of the trip, Leo will visit a home run by nuns in Callao that houses 60 elderly people. Before heading to Callao Air Base for a farewell ceremony, he will celebrate Mass at Las Palmas Air Base in Lima.
“That celebration will be an opportunity for us to bring these days of grace, hope and love to a close. This visit will inspire us to promote justice and uphold human dignity,” Bytton said.
Leo will depart for Rome at 1:45 p.m, from Callao.
Bytton hopes the pontiff’s trip to Peru “will represent a turning point, allowing us all to be reborn in this new Pentecost of a synodal Church.”
Last week, the Vatican confirmed Pope Leo will have “several meetings” with victims of clergy abuse during the trip, after Peru’s survivors’ network said the schedule had left them out.