Pope begins lengthy trip to Latin America weeks after lung cancer surgery

The Pope has launched a prolonged visit to Latin America only a few weeks after undergoing lung cancer surgery, the Vatican said. The programme spans three nations and includes meetings with survivors of clerical sexual abuse, according to Vatican officials.

He was born in the United States and, as Robert Prevost, lived in Peru for nearly two decades, intermittently, and now holds Peruvian citizenship, a period the Vatican views as pivotal to his papacy. He will return to the diocese of Chiclayo, where he was ordained bishop in 2014 and stayed until Francis transferred him to the Vatican almost ten years later. He is also scheduled to travel to Cusco, the former Inca capital, to celebrate Mass at more than 3,000m above sea level before proceeding to Pucallpa in the Amazon.

"This is how the papacy reconnects with Latin America after Francis, whose visits to the region were not always seamless," said Professor Faggioli. He added that Pope Leo has a strong sense of the Americas as a single continent and noted, "Democracies are in trouble there, so there are so many things he can address." He further remarked, "The big question then is the United States. There's no question he wants to go. So will he travel when [President Donald] Trump is still in office? I'm sure they're thinking about this."