Pope Leo XIV, who had cancer surgery just weeks ago, begins grueling South American tour

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT — Three countries in 12 days, a dozen flights, two helicopter rides and nine Masses on a trip covering around 19,000 miles. Less than a month after Pope Leo XIV underwent cancer surgery, he set off on what the Vatican called a “homecoming” tour of South America.

The 71-year-old’s long trip across the strongly Catholic region will take him to Uruguay and Argentina, as well as to Peru, where he lived for decades and served as a bishop until 2023.

Leo considers the tour, one of the most grueling undertaken by a Catholic leader in decades, a “homecoming to places where he spent a long time and to which he feels closely connected,” Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni told journalists at a briefing Tuesday.

The Chicago-born pontiff, who is also a citizen of Peru, told pilgrims at his weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday that he was ⁠hoping to “strengthen the faith, renew hope” and “rekindle the fire of charity.”

Leo will hold several meetings with survivors of sexual abuse by ​Catholic clergy during the trip, the Vatican has said, without yet providing further details.

Bruni said the pope would also address a range of…

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