Pope Leo XIV heads to South America on Nov 6 for an emotionally charged reunion with the continent that helped shape his priesthood, three weeks after undergoing lung cancer surgery.
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that → head → surgery
The 71-year-old head of the Catholic Church will in 12 days visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru in one of the most intense papal foreign trips in decades, meeting political leaders, prisoners, the poor, as well as old friends.
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head → visit → leaders
The Church’s first US-born pope served for almost two decades in Peru as a missionary, forming a deep attachment to the continent.
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pope → bear → continent
Leo said on Nov 4 that he was looking forward to returning to those countries “so dear to me”.
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he → say → me
The head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics said he hoped the trip would “strengthen faith, renew hope, (and) rekindle the fire of charity” in the countries, which share challenges from rising inequality and violence, to demographic falls and the decline of Catholicism.
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which → say → Catholicism
Despite undergoing an operation on Oct 13 to remove a cancerous tumour, doctors have given him the all-clear to travel, and the Vatican said no special medical measures were necessary beyond the standard care on papal trips.
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measures → undergo → trips
Leo begins his trip in Uruguay, Latin America’s most secular country – and one of the wealthiest – where a tight security operation is in place, with some 5,000 police officers and 1,000 soldiers mobilised.
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officers → begin → place
He will be driven along Montevideo’s waterfront promenade in a custom-made popemobile, before meeting left-wing Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi and receiving the keys to the city.
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He → drive → city
“I have family members who plan to go to the waterfront to watch him pass,” Janet Rodriguez, 47, told AFP.
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Rodriguez → have → AFP
“I won’t be going, as I’m not religious.
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I → go → ?
But it’s great that someone of such importance is coming,” she said.
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she → ’ → importance
Cardinal Daniel Sturla, archbishop of Montevideo, told AFP there was “widespread interest in the pope’s visit that goes well beyond the confines of the Catholic Church”, with tickets for masses in Paysandu and Florida quickly running out.
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tickets → tell → Paysandu
The liberal nation is at odds with the centuries-old institution on same-sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia – which was legalised last year – and Leo is expected to appeal to protect life as well as traditional family values.
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Leo → legalise → life
Uruguay has the highest suicide rate in Latin America and the pope may talk about mental health, particularly when visiting the Casavalle neighbourhood in Montevideo, notorious for high levels of poverty and extreme violence.
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pope → have → poverty
The pope will travel on Nov 8 to Argentina, the homeland of his predecessor Pope Francis, who disappointed many Argentinians by not returning to visit during his papacy.
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who → travel → papacy
Leo’s trip is seen as a double homecoming of sorts, US-based Vatican expert Christopher White told AFP.
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White → see → AFP
“History’s first Latin American pope, Francis, never returned to his homeland.
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pope → return → homeland
Leo, a Peruvian citizen, now carries forward that mantle and legacy,” said White, author of a book on Pope Leo.
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White → carry → Leo
The South America trip culminates in Peru, and Leo’s arrival there on Nov 4 will be “a moment full of symbolism and emotion”, he said.
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he → culminate → symbolism
The country has been gripped by pope fever.
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country → grip → fever
In Lima, vendors are selling T-shirts and rosaries with his image on them, while Leo bread is on sale in bakeries.
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bread → sell → bakeries
Inmates in a women’s prison are crafting dolls in his likeness.
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Inmates → craft → likeness
A towering, 14m tall statue of Leo has also been erected in the port city of Callao, which he is to visit.
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he → erect → which
The trip will take him to the former Inca capital of Cusco and the Amazon rainforest, but the pope will also revisit his former life as Robert Francis Prevost, from a supper with priests from his old diocese of Chiclayo to a private visit to a chapel he helped rebuild.
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he → take → chapel
The Aporia
