Pope Leo departed Friday for an ambitious 12-day tour of South America, where he is expected to draw crowds of millions as the first U.S.-born pontiff returns to a Catholic stronghold where he spent decades serving as a missionary.
The 71-year-old pope, who underwent lung cancer surgery last month, will visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru through Nov. 17 in what is expected to be one of the most demanding overseas trips by a Catholic leader in decades.
The Vatican said this week that Leo had fully recovered from the operation and would require no special medical precautions during the tour. He is expected to cover approximately 31,000 kilometers (19,300 miles), visit 10 cities and deliver 36 speeches during the 12-day journey.
The pope, who was born in Chicago but spent decades in Peru and became a Peruvian citizen, considers the tour a "homecoming to places where he spent a long time and to which he feels closely connected," Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said.
Leo told pilgrims at his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday that he hoped to "strengthen the faith, renew hope, (and) rekindle the fire of charity" during the trip.
Pope expected to address regional instability
The pope departed from Rome's Fiumicino Airport early Friday and is due to arrive in Uruguay at 4:30 p.m. (7:30 a.m. GMT). He will remain in the country until Sunday, visiting three cities before spending three days in Argentina and six days in Peru.
Leo, who has forcefully criticized the direction of global leadership in recent months, will address the governments of all three countries in closely watched speeches. He will also lead outdoor Masses at major local sites, visit a prison in Argentina and travel by helicopter to remote Andean communities in Peru.
On Sunday, Leo will deliver an address to Argentine President Javier Milei, a right-wing libertarian considered a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump lambasted the pope earlier this year after Leo criticized the Iran war.
Bruni said the pope's speeches during the tour would address a range of issues facing the continent, including environmental destruction, arms trafficking and regional political instability.
"The pope brings a message of communion and unity, an invitation to recognize one another ... as members of one same family," he said.
The late Pope Francis, Leo's predecessor and a native of Argentina, visited Peru in 2018 but never returned to his homeland. A pope has not visited Argentina or Uruguay since the late 1980s.
Argentine officials have said about 7 million people are expected to attend events with Leo.
Vatican not taking additional medical precautions
Latin America has long been the world's largest Catholic region in absolute numbers, but the Church has recently been losing ground to fast-growing evangelical denominations and has struggled to respond to increasingly progressive social attitudes and more individualized forms of worship.
Local Catholic leaders hope Leo's visit can reinvigorate the faith across the region and help repair the Church's standing after abuse scandals tarnished its reputation.
Leo will meet several survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy during the trip, the Vatican has said, without providing further details.
The pope was treated in October for lung adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer. His doctors have said the disease was localized and that he would not require further treatment.
Bruni said Leo had recovered sufficiently that no additional medical measures would be necessary during the trip.
Medical experts told Reuters that the decision by Leo's doctors to clear him to fly indicated that the risk of complications from his surgery was low, his operated lung had fully expanded and his surgical wounds were healing without signs of infection.
They suggested, however, that Leo might need rest breaks to cope with the demanding itinerary and could consider using supplemental oxygen when necessary, particularly during visits to high-altitude areas in the Peruvian Andes.