AP
Uruguay Pope
Pope Leo XIV waves after arriving in Montevideo, Uruguay, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026.
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Pope Leo XIV arrives in Uruguay at start of South American tour less than a month after lung surgery
Three weeks after lung cancer surgery, Pope Leo XIV has opened a three-nation tour of Latin America by declaring he felt better than he looked and crediting God, good doctors and his healthy lifestyle with his quick recovery. The 71-year-old pope arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay, Latin America’s most secular country. It came after a 13 1/2-hour flight from Rome during which he acknowledged “some people” had doubted whether he could make the grueling, 12-day trip at all. As if to prove his point, he immediately got down to business. He drew some 30,000 people as he pulled into Montevideo in his open-sided popemobile.
