Vatican City (AFP) – Pope Leo XIV is "so excited" to return to Peru and refused to cut anything from his packed South America schedule despite his recent lung operation, the Vatican said Tuesday.
Issued on: 03/11/2026 - 17:17
"He is so excited. He personally confirmed this trip with no changes," Maria Montserrat Alvarado, the Vatican's new head of communications, told journalists.
The 71-year-old head of the Catholic Church, who underwent an operation fewer than three weeks ago to remove a cancerous tumour, was "so grateful" for concern over his health, she said at a briefing ahead of the November 6 to 17 trip.
But the US pope insists he is fit enough for what will be one of the most ambitious papal foreign trips in decades, touring Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, she said.
Before becoming Leo XIV, Robert Francis Prevost served for nearly two decades in the Andean country, including as bishop, and he holds Peruvian citizenship.
"The homecoming piece is very important to him," Alvarado said.
"He feels that very deeply. This is a place that gave him his ministry and inspired who he is as a pastor, and certainly the way that he views encounter, and the diverse needs of the Church.
"So it opened his eyes in a way that is new and different," she said.
Millions of faithful are expected to flock to see Leo, who will lead over 50 events during his trip, delivering speeches to leaders including Argentine President Javier Milei, and meeting indigenous peoples in the Amazon, clerical abuse victims, and the elderly, poor and disabled.
The tour includes 12 flights, two helicopter trips, and a high-altitude prayer in the Andes, which has fuelled concern it may be too much for the pontiff.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the pope's cancerous tumour was "not a permanent condition, we're talking about something that you heal from".
"The pope is a 71-year-old man who has no chronic medical condition. Having undergone a surgical procedure -- from which he has recovered -- he is once again a 71-year-old man in excellent health," he said.
© 2026 AFP
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