Pope Leo Gets Green Light for 31,000km South America Tour After Lung Surgery

Pope Leo is cleared for takeoff. Vatican officials said on Nov 3 that the 71-year-old is healthy enough to leave this week on a 12-day swing through Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, less than a month after surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung.

No extra medical precautions are being added for the tour, spokesperson Matteo Bruni told reporters at a briefing. The usual Vatican doctors and nurses will travel with him, and ambulances will roll in the convoy just as they have on past foreign trips. Bruni brushed off any suggestion of a lingering condition: the pope is recovering from surgery, he said, and that is something you heal from.

The trip itself is a monster. From Nov 6 to Nov 17, Leo will cover roughly 31,000km, hit 10 cities, deliver 36 speeches, and board 12 flights plus two helicopter hops. The itinerary is unchanged from the original plan, the Vatican said. One stop stands out for altitude: Cusco in Peru, sitting 3,399m up in the Andes, where travellers can get altitude sickness or need supplemental oxygen.

Leo's cancer diagnosis, revealed as he underwent treatment for lung adenocarcinoma, landed with a jolt and sparked questions about what his papacy would look like going forward. The Vatican's foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, called the health scare last week a bit of a game changer for how Catholics see Leo's future. His doctors have said the removed tissue showed the disease was localised and no further treatment is needed. Leo became pope in May 2025.

The communications chief Maria Montserrat Alvarado described his stamina as fantastic and said she would have no fear, adding that his doctors are very confident. Outside specialists largely backed the green light. Dr Serena Ricciardi, a lung cancer specialist at Rome's San Camillo Forlanini Hospital, told Reuters she doesn't expect particular risks or a need for specific precautions. Dr Antonio Passaro, chief of thoracic oncology at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, said the operation alone isn't an obstacle to flying or strenuous activity, though a trip with this many flights and high-altitude stops will likely mean rest breaks and possibly supplemental oxygen as needed.

Bottom line: the Vatican says the itinerary stands, the medical team is unchanged, and Leo is packing for South America.