VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo departs on Friday for an ambitious 12-day tour across South America that is expected to draw crowds in the millions, as the first US-born pope returns to a Catholic stronghold where he spent decades as a missionary.

Leo, who is 71 and underwent lung cancer surgery last month, will visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru through November 17, in what ranks as one of the most demanding overseas tours undertaken by a Catholic leader in decades.

The Vatican said this week that the pope had completely healed from his operation and that no special precautions were being taken for the journey, during which Leo will travel some 31,000 km (19,300 miles), stop in 10 cities and deliver 36 speeches.

Born in Chicago, the pope spent decades in Peru and became a Peruvian citizen. Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said Leo considers the trip a “homecoming to places where he spent a long time and to which he feels closely connected.”

Speaking to pilgrims at his weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, Leo said that during the trip he hoped to “strengthen the faith, renew hope, (and) rekindle the fire of charity.”

Itinerary and diplomatic dimension

The pope leaves Rome early on Friday morning and is due to arrive in Uruguay at 4:30 p.m. (1930 GMT). He will remain in the country until Sunday, visiting three cities, before continuing on for three days in Argentina and six days in Peru.

Leo, who has forcefully decried the direction of global leadership in recent months, will address the governments in each country 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 before Argentine President Javier Milei, a right-wing libertarian seen as a close ally of US President Donald Trump, who lambasted Leo earlier this year after the pope 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.

Leo’s predecessor, the late Pope Francis, was from Argentina; he visited Peru in 2018 but never returned to his home country. A pope has not visited Argentina or Uruguay since the late 1980s. Argentine officials have said some 7 million people will 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 been losing ground recently to fast-growing evangelical denominations and has struggled to respond to progressive social attitudes and individualized forms of worship.

Local Catholic leaders hope Leo’s visit can reenergize the faith across the region and help repair the Church’s standing, which has been tarnished by abuse scandals. The Vatican has said the pope will hold several meetings with survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy during the trip, without yet providing further details.

Leo 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 any further treatments. Bruni said the pope had recovered enough that no additional medical measures would be necessary during his trip.

Medical experts told Reuters that the decision by Leo’s doctors to clear him to fly should indicate the risk of complications from his surgery was low, that his operated lung had fully expanded and that any surgical wounds were healing without signs of infection. They suggested, however, that Leo might need to take rest breaks to deal with the trip’s intense itinerary and consider using supplemental oxygen as needed, especially during his high-altitude visits in the Peruvian Andes.

— Reuters