Pope Leo XIV begins 12-day Latin America trip

Pope Leo XIV was to visit Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Borro, a Montevideo neighborhood hit hard by drug trafficking, at the start of a 6 to 17 November tour of Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. More than 46 percent of Montevideo's 98 homicides up to September occurred in Borro and surrounding neighborhoods. The parish builds homes, promotes job creation and supports addicts, and the visit came despite his recent cancer diagnosis.

The trip was a 12-day, three-nation tour of Latin America, the longest of his pontificate, covering 31,000 kilometers. It began three weeks after lung cancer surgery, and doctors said he requires no further treatment. The Vatican said no special medical provisions are planned and said he is a 71-year-old who underwent an operation, not someone with a permanent medical condition. The trip included Peru, where he served as a priest, and Argentina, the homeland of Pope Francis.

Pope Leo XIV arrived in Uruguay to begin the tour and told reporters he is in pretty good health three weeks after lung cancer surgery. He celebrated his first Mass in South America in Paysandú, where thousands of people gathered. The tour will also take him to Argentina and Peru, a region where he served as a missionary and bishop.