Pope Leo XIV Departs for South America on an Emotional Homecoming

Pope Leo XIV set out this Friday on a 12-day tour of South America, an emotional reunion with a continent that profoundly marked his priestly vocation, just weeks after undergoing lung surgery.

The 71-year-old pontiff will visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru on one of the most intensive international trips by a pope in recent decades.

On a rainy morning at Rome's Fiumicino airport, the pontiff smiled and greeted onlookers before boarding the papal plane, which took off shortly after 06:00 GMT bound for Montevideo.

During the tour he will meet with political leaders, prisoners and vulnerable people, as well as old friends.

The first pope born in the United States, Leo XIV spent nearly two decades in Peru as a missionary, developing a strong bond with the region.

On Wednesday, the spiritual leader of 1.4 billion Catholics said he looked forward with enthusiasm to returning to countries that are "so dear" to him.

Leo expressed his hope that the visit will help "strengthen faith, renew hope and rekindle the fire of charity" in countries facing challenges such as rising inequality, violence, demographic decline and the retreat of Catholicism.

Despite having undergone surgery just over three weeks ago to remove a cancerous tumor, doctors cleared him for the trip.

According to the Vatican, no additional medical measures beyond those customary on papal trips will be necessary.

Uruguay, the Most Secular Country in Latin America

Leo XIV will begin his tour in Uruguay, considered the most secular country in Latin America and one of the smallest and most prosperous in the region.

Uruguayan authorities will deploy a broad security operation, with some 5,000 police officers and more than 1,000 military personnel mobilized.

The pontiff will travel along part of the Montevideo promenade in a specially equipped popemobile before meeting with leftist President Yamandú Orsi and receiving the keys to the city.

"I have relatives who are going to go to the promenade to see him pass by," Janet Rodríguez, a 47-year-old administrative worker, told AFP.

"I'm not going to go see him, because I don't belong to any religion, but it's good that someone that important is coming," she added.

According to Cardinal Daniel Sturla, archbishop of Montevideo, "there is very general interest regarding the pope's visit that goes beyond the limits of the Catholic Church."

Tickets for the Masses the pope will celebrate in Paysandú (northwest) and Florida (south-central) and a vigil at Montevideo's Centenario stadium sold out quickly, and the church added new slots.

That interest contrasts with legislation that is far from traditional Catholic positions on issues such as same-sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia, legalized last year. The pontiff is expected to emphasize the defense of life and the family.

Uruguay also has the highest suicide rate in Latin America, so Leo XIV could address mental health, especially during his visit to the Montevideo neighborhood of Casavalle, affected by high levels of poverty and violence.

"Symbolism and Emotion"

The pope will then travel on Sunday to Argentina, the native country of his predecessor Francis, who disappointed many compatriots by never returning to his homeland during his pontificate.

According to American expert Christopher White, author of a book on Leo XIV, this trip to South America is something of a double homecoming.

"Francis, the first Latin American pope in history, never returned to his country. Leo, who holds Peruvian nationality, now picks up that legacy," he told AFP.

The tour will culminate in Peru, where the pontiff will arrive on Wednesday. For White, it will be "a moment charged with symbolism and emotion."

The country has been experiencing a veritable "papal fever" for weeks. In Lima, vendors sell T-shirts and rosaries bearing Leo's image, bakeries sell breads named in his honor and inmates at a women's prison make dolls with his likeness.

A 14-meter-tall statue of the pontiff has also been erected in the port city of Callao, one of the stops on his visit.

The trip will also take him to the ancient Inca capital of Cusco and to the Amazon rainforest.

But it will also mean a reunion with his past as Robert Francis Prevost, from a dinner with priests from his former diocese of Chiclayo to a private visit to a chapel whose reconstruction he helped promote.