Pope Leo XIV has arrived in Uruguay to start a 12-day, three-nation journey across South America , coming less than four weeks after undergoing lung surgery.

The 71-year-old pontiff had the lower lobe of his right lung removed following a cancer diagnosis in October.

The visit marks the first papal trip in almost 40 years to Uruguay, regarded as Latin America’s most secular country, where Pope John Paul II last travelled in 1988.

The arrival in Montevideo followed a flight of nearly 14 hours from Rome, with church bells ringing across the nation and Uruguay’s President Yamandú Orsi greeting him at Carrasco International Airport.

Spectators gathered along Montevideo's waterfront route beneath overcast and windy skies, cheering as the open-sided popemobile carried Leo into the capital for his initial engagements.

"I am very happy, and I am certain that his visit will bring us much good fortune and many blessings," said retiree Marie Hernández, a 75-year-old Catholic.…