The 71-year-old pontiff brings message of hope on demanding three-nation tour

Last updated: November 07, 2026 | 16:11

Pope Leo XIV arrives at the Cabildo of Montevideo for a ceremony during which Montevideo Mayor Mario Bergara will present the keys to the city, in Montevideo. AFP-NICOLAS GARRIDO

Montevideo: Pope Leo XIV arrived in Uruguay, where he will celebrate a Mass on Saturday, as he began a 12-day tour of South America in "fairly good shape."

Leo's sixth international tour takes him to the continent that helped shape his priesthood, just three weeks after surgery for a tumor on his right lung.

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The 71-year-old pontiff will visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru on one of the most intense papal trips in decades, meeting political leaders, prisoners and the poor, as well as old friends.

Thousands of people, some waving yellow-and-white Vatican flags, lined the seafront of Uruguay's capital Montevideo to greet him as…