Pope Leo XIV is returning home to the continent where he spent two decades as a missionary priest and learned to be a pastor, visiting Uruguay, Argentina and his second homeland of Peru.
asserted
he → return → Peru
The Nov. 6-17 trip marks the longest and farthest of his papacy and is coming just three weeks after Leo underwent surgery Oct. 13 to remove a cancerous tumor from his right lung.
asserted
Leo → mark → lung
Doctors nevertheless gave him the green light to make the trip.
asserted
Doctors → give → trip
Latin America still is home to around 40% of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, but the Catholic proportion of the region’s population has shrunk in recent year s and the decreases are especially notable in the countries Leo will visit.
Uruguay: Nov. 6-8
The trip begins in Uruguay, whose secular identity and separation of church and state are so deeply entrenched that Christmas is officially “Family Day” and Holy Week is “Tourism Week.”
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Week → shrink → church
According to Vatican statistics, nearly 77% of Uruguay’s 3.5 million people are baptized Catholics.
uncertain
% → accord → people
But more than half of all Uruguayans identify as religiously unaffiliated — the highest portion in Latin America – and only a fraction of those who identify as Catholic actually go to Mass regularly.
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who → identify → Mass
Leo’s itinerary includes a stop at a parish in Casavalle, a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Montevideo plagued by drug trafficking and gang violence.
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itinerary → include → trafficking
The church works with national and municipal authorities on support initiatives, including housing construction and addiction recovery programs.
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church → work → construction
Leo will also celebrate Mass in Paysandú, some 375 kilometers (230 miles) from the capital and chosen because of its accessibility to those living north of the Río Negro, a river that crosses the country, and proximity to the Argentine city of Colón.
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that → celebrate → Colón
The visit begins with a welcome ceremony at the Plaza Independencia in the center of Montevideo, a symbol of Uruguay’s national identity and history.
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visit → begin → identity
The plaza features a monument to independence hero José Gervasio Artigas.
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plaza → feature → Artigas
But most significantly, Leo will mark an important Catholic feast day Nov. 8, which commemorates the Virgin of the Thirty-three, the patron of Uruguay and an icon deeply rooted in the country’s history and patriotism.
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which → mark → history
According to tradition, 33 independence patriots acquired the small, wooden Guaraní statue and had it with them when independence was declared from the Brazilian empire in the Uruguayan city of Florida on Aug. 25, 1825.
uncertain
independence → accord → Aug.
It was to the virgin that the insurgents entrusted their faith.
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insurgents → entrust → faith
By celebrating the feast day, paying homage to Artigas and celebrating Uruguay’s independence, Leo is expected to emphasize that Uruguay’s secular nationhood is intrinsically connected to its Catholic heritage.
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nationhood → celebrate → heritage
The goal is to suggest that there is still a place for faith today in even the most secular of countries.
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goal → suggest → countries
Pope Francis’ refusal to return home to Argentina during his pontificate, and his polarizing tenure as both archbishop and pope, left a conflicted legacy that will dog Leo’s visit.
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that → return → visit
But the American pope will formally honor his predecessor when he visits Buenos Aires’ cathedral and in a more symbolic way when he visits the federal prison where then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio ministered to inmates.
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Bergoglio → honor → inmates
In the capital, Leo will also meet with libertarian President Javier Milei, who once called Francis “the representative of evil on Earth.”
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who → meet → Earth
Milei later apologized.
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Milei → apologize → ?
Milei’s sweeping spending cuts, though, have strained relations with Argentine church leaders, who have criticized his government for cuts to disability funding and for putting economic orthodoxy ahead of the needs of the poor.
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who → strain → poor
That flashpoint will be on display when Leo visits the Don Orione care home in Claypole, south of Buenos Aires, a Catholic institution that houses more than 400 people with disabilities.
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that → visit → disabilities
The institution has reported facing extreme economic problems due to the spending cuts, outdated rates, inflation, and state payment delays.
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institution → report → cuts
Leo will also hear of economic woes when he meets with business leaders, trade unions, workers and social representatives at the Argentine Catholic University.
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he → hear → University
Union leaders have said they intend to brief him on the crisis, including rising unemployment, poverty, and the erosion of household purchasing power.
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they → say → power
According to official data, poverty in Argentina reached 32.3% of the population during the first half of 2026, representing about 15 million people.
uncertain
poverty → accord → people
Another possible flashpoint between Milei and Leo could come over artificial intelligence.
uncertain
flashpoint → come → intelligence
Milei, a Trump ally, has courted AI investment and data centers with promises of limited regulation, while Leo has warned about the threats to humanity and the environment of the AI race and called for strict, internationally policed safeguards on its development.
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Leo → court → development
Leo will celebrate his first Mass in Argentina at Buenos Aires’ Monumento de los Españoles, where St. John Paul II led prayers for peace on June 12, 1982, during Argentina’s war with Britain over the Falkland Islands.
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II → celebrate → Islands
John Paul, who also came in 1987, was the first and last pope to visit.
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who → come → 1987
When Francis was elected, around 71% of Argentina’s population identified as Catholic, according to the Pew Research Center.
uncertain
% → elect → Center
That percentage has fallen to 58% in 2024.
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percentage → fall → 2024
And yet this year, in a prelude to Leo’s visit and despite persistent rain, a record of more than 2.8 million people took part in the annual pilgrimage south of Buenos Aires to the Basilica de Nuestra Señora de Luján, Argentina’s patron.
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record → take → Luján
Peru: Nov. 11-16
The highlight of Leo’s trip will certainly be his return to Peru and especially his diocese of Chiclayo, including the sprawling midsize city in northern Peru near the Pacific Coast.
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highlight → include → Coast
Leo will celebrate Mass in all his old stomping grounds including the mountain village of Santa Cruz de Succhabamba.
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Leo → celebrate → Succhabamba
Leo spent two decades ministering in Peru as a missionary priest and then bishop, and has credited the place and its people with shaping his view of the church and being a shepherd.
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Leo → spend → church
Because he knows the country so well, his speeches will be closely watched, especially one he’ll deliver from the square in front of Lima’s cathedral “on the challenges and hopes for the future of the Peruvian people.”
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he → know → people
Peru, a nation of 34 million people, is beset by multiple challenges: the climate chaos of El Niño, violent crime, poverty and inequality.
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Peru → beset → Niño
In 2025, 25.7% of the Peruvian population was living in monetary poverty.
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% → live → poverty
Conservative President Keiko Fujimori came to power in July on promises of restoring order to a nation plagued by extortion and homicides.
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Fujimori → come → extortion
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
