MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

From Montevideo to Luján: Leo XIV’s tour of Uruguay and Argentina

“It fills me with joy to return to the continent where I have lived so many moments of my life,” wrote the pontiff, who was born in Chicago and spent almost two decades as a missionary in Peru

Pope Leo XIV will begin a tour of South America in Montevideo on November 6 that will take him to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, with open-air Masses, meetings with Presidents Yamandú Orsi and Javier Milei, and events with young people, workers and prisoners. His stop in Argentina, from November 8 to 11, will be the first papal visit to the country since John Paul II’s in April 1987.

“It fills me with joy to return to the continent where I have lived so many moments of my life,” wrote the pontiff, who was born in Chicago and spent almost two decades as a missionary in Peru. “May this journey be an opportunity to open our hearts to one another, strengthen our communion as brothers and sisters, and renew our commitment to proclaim the Gospel with joy.” Leo XIV, 71, is recovering from lung cancer surgery on October 13; last week he cancelled a helicopter trip to Assisi as a medical precaution, but the Vatican has announced no changes to the tour.

Uruguay, November 6-8

The Pope will leave Rome on Friday 6 and land at Carrasco airport about eight and a half hours later. That afternoon, Montevideo’s Plaza Independencia will host the official welcome ceremony; he will meet Orsi and celebrate vespers at 7.05 p.m. in the Metropolitan Cathedral.

On Saturday 7 he will fly to Paysandú, on the border with Argentina, to celebrate Mass at 10 a.m. in Parque París Londres. Back in the capital, he will visit the parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the Casavalle neighbourhood, meet the education community at the Catholic University of Uruguay and lead a prayer vigil at 7 p.m. at the Centenario Stadium.

On Sunday 8 he will celebrate Mass at 10.30 a.m. in the city of Florida, in front of the shrine of the Virgin of the Thirty-Three, Uruguay’s patron saint, on her feast day, a coincidence that was decisive in starting the tour there. At 3.10 p.m. he will leave for Buenos Aires.

Argentina, November 8-11

The Pope will land at Aeroparque Jorge Newbery on Sunday 8 at 4.30 p.m. After paying tribute at the monument to General San Martín, he will meet Milei at the Casa Rosada and, at 6.30 p.m., address authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps at the Palacio Libertad.

On Monday 9 he will visit the Pequeño Cottolengo Don Orione in Claypole and celebrate Mass at 11.30 a.m. at the Monument of the Spaniards in Palermo. In the afternoon he will meet trade unionists, business leaders and social movements at the Catholic University of Argentina, work being one of the themes of his pontificate, and leaders of other faiths at the Palacio San Martín, before celebrating vespers with the bishops at the Metropolitan Cathedral.

On Tuesday 10 he will travel to Córdoba, where he will celebrate Mass at 10 a.m. at the Military Aviation School and meet clergy at the cathedral. Back in Buenos Aires, he will lead a youth vigil at 8.15 p.m. at the Monument of the Spaniards.

On Wednesday 11 he will visit the Devoto prison complex and celebrate Mass at 10 a.m. at the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján, the country’s main shrine. The farewell is scheduled for 1.30 p.m. at Ezeiza, from where he will fly to Lima.

Argentina’s government declared the visit of national interest and set three public holidays: Monday 9 nationwide, Tuesday 10 in the city of Buenos Aires and Córdoba province, and Wednesday 11 in Buenos Aires province. Francis, the first Argentine pope, never returned to his country during his pontificate.