Pope Leo’s trip to Latin America will take him to more than 11,000 feet, weeks after lung cancer surgery

Rome —

Just over three weeks ago, the most important visit of Pope Leo’s pontificate seemed uncertain. The 71 year old man An operation for lung cancer led some in the Vatican to believe his trip to Latin America would be postponed or his busy schedule altered.

But Leo

He plans to cover a lot of ground – about 19,000 miles – in Latin America. From November 6 to 17, the pope is expected to make 14 flights (including two by helicopter), deliver 36 speeches and participate in around 50 events in what constitutes one of the most intense papal trips in recent years.

He will also visit Cusco, Peru, a city located more than 11,000 feet above sea level and where there is 35 percent less oxygen per breath. Throughout the trip, he will visit 10 cities, preside over large masses and outdoor vigils and meet with political leaders.

The trip, particularly the altitude of Cusco, raised questions about his health and the precautions taken during his stay. It also shed light on a region that profoundly shaped him and charted his path to the papacy.

A medical team will be on site

The pontiff underwent surgery last month to remove a third of his right lung after a small tumor was discovered during routine checks, which was later confirmed to be cancer. His surgeon, Dr Stefano Margaritora, later said there was “no clinical reason why this visit should not take place”, and doctors said he did not need further treatment.

Vatican officials told reporters that Pope Leo would have a medical team for the trip, but stressed that no special measures were being taken. “We are talking about a 71-year-old in good health,” the Vatican spokesperson said before the visit.

He explained that the pope would travel with “ordinary medical assistance,” including doctors, nurses and an ambulance, which usually travels with the pope’s convoy. But the spokesperson said he wouldn’t go into too much detail because the pope doesn’t have a “permanent condition.” And if the Vatican medical team needs help, one of the journalists accompanying the pope is also a doctor.

Montse Alvarado, the Vatican’s new communications director, told reporters Tuesday that the pope’s “endurance is fantastic” and that “he will have plenty of medical care on board if anything were to happen.”

Dr. Matthew Triplette, a pulmonologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, told CNN that the risk of a medical emergency during the trip was “low,” but that it could include “either a collapsed lung or blood clots.”

Triplette said Pope may be advised to “take low-dose blood thinners or use compression exercises or devices” to reduce the risk of blood clots in his legs in flight, which could cause major problems if they spread to the lungs. He added that the pope could experience more fatigue during exercise, particularly because there is less oxygen available at altitude.

The day after his operation, many thought the trip would be canceled.

“I must confess that, until a few days ago, I was among the few who had serious doubts about the possibility of this trip,” Guzmán Carriquiry, a former Uruguayan Vatican official who worked on Latin American issues for nearly 50 years in the Church’s central administration, told reporters Tuesday.

But he also stressed that the pope’s medical team had given him the green light. “This suggests that his doctors believe the pope possesses a robust physical constitution; it also speaks to the pope’s burning desire and determination to go out and meet our people,” he said.

But Carriquiry stressed that he would have removed Cusco from the agenda if he had organized the trip.

If Leo XIV is known for his gentle and discreet style, he is determined.

Responding to a question from CNN, Alvarado said the pope “personally confirmed this trip without any changes” and that he looked forward to returning to Latin America.

The continent, and Peru in particular, is close to his heart, and Alvarado said the pope will speak frequently in Spanish, a language he speaks fluently.

“He is making this trip simply because he wants to,” Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s foreign minister, said at an event in Rome late last month.

The Peruvian part of the trip will be emotional, because Leo will arrive there “as an adopted brother, adopted by the Peruvian people,” Carriquiry said.

The pope, who remains a Peruvian citizen, has made three trips to Peru, where he arrived for the first time in his thirties. He also served as bishop of Chiclayo, in the northwest of the country, from 2015 to 2023.

The pope will return to Chiclayo during the trip and is expected to receive an enthusiastic welcome. Leo is fondly remembered in the city, where he was considered an active bishop, known for traveling through his diocese on horseback.

“The pope spent many years living among the simple, poor and pious people of rural Latin America, in northern Peru, as a missionary and pastor,” said Carriquiry, former secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

Leo is expected to draw huge crowds during his stay, with around 1.2 million people expected to attend his final mass of the trip at Las Palmas Air Base in Lima.

He is also expected to draw huge crowds in Argentina, where more than a million people are expected to attend his mass in Buenos Aires.

The late Pope Francis, Argentina’s first pontiff, never visited his home country, so Leo’s visit is attracting keen interest.

Francis never gave a clear reason why he did not travel to Argentina. Carriquiry, a close friend of the late pope, said it “remains an enigma.”

Leo XIV’s visit will highlight his plan to continue his predecessor’s reforms, but with his own style.

The pope’s visit comes at a time when Argentine President Javier Milei’s “chainsaw” austerity measures have led to cuts in social spending. Milei also equated state-led social justice programs with communism.

Pope Leo, in contrast, made the social teaching of the Church and concern for the marginalized a central concern of his papacy. His itinerary includes a visit to a federal prison in Buenos Aires and a stop at a care center for people with intellectual and physical disabilities in Claypole, affected by Milei’s budget cuts.

Milei and Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori are key figures in the rise of the right in Latin America. They also have the support of the Trump administration, which Leo has publicly clashed with – particularly on migration issues.

Leo XIV would not have been elected pope if he had not been sent to Peru as a young Augustinian missionary.

His time in Latin America put him on track to be spotted by Pope Francis. It was Francis who appointed the reverend at the time. Robert Prévost as bishop of Chiclayo before later bringing him to Rome and appointing him cardinal.

All of this has positioned him as a candidate for the 2025 conclave. Although Leo is the first pope of the United States and grew up in Chicago, his experience in Latin America has deeply influenced his worldview.

In Peru, he served in the birthplace of liberation theology, a movement focused on social and political action to help the poor and oppressed. As bishop, he was known for organizing practical aid to those affected by floods or in need of medical equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic.

He served in a church in Peru that emphasized an inclusive model, giving a greater role to those not ordained as priests and bishops, including women.

Leo’s time in Peru also exposed him to the fallout of the religious abuse crisis, including a major scandal involving a powerful Catholic group. The Vatican says the pope will have two meetings with abuse survivors during his trip, one in Argentina and another in Peru.

South America remains the continent with the largest Catholic population, although recent years have seen a decline in this number and the rise of evangelical churches. In Uruguay, the Pope will visit the most secularized country on the continent.

Whatever the health challenges, Pope Leo is determined to carry out the most important foreign mission of his pontificate so far: a return to the country that adopted him and the region that helped shape the man who would become pope.