Pope Leo XIV leaves Rome on Friday, November 6, 2026, for a twelve-day apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. The Holy See Press Office published the full itinerary in September and reconfirmed it this week, with no changes. The trip marks the first Latin America visit of his pontificate. It covers three countries and ten cities, with roughly a dozen flights, nine public Masses, seven cathedral visits and two stadium prayer vigils. Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, said the Pope is enthusiastic about the journey and that the program remains intact.
In Uruguay, from November 6 to 8, Leo XIV visits Montevideo, Paysandú and Florida. The motto is “I bring you news of great joy.” He arrives at Carrasco International Airport in the afternoon of November 6, holds a welcome ceremony at Plaza Independencia, meets authorities and the diplomatic corps, and visits President Yamandú Orsi. He celebrates vespers at the Metropolitan Cathedral.
The next day he flies to Paysandú for Mass, returns to Montevideo for a meeting in the Casavalle neighborhood and a session with the education community at the Catholic University of Uruguay, then leads a prayer vigil at Centenario Stadium. On November 8 he celebrates Mass at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Thirty-Three in Florida before flying to Buenos Aires.
Argentina receives him from November 8 to 11. The motto is “Welcome everyone. Go and proclaim.” He arrives at Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, visits the monument to General José de San Martín, holds a welcome ceremony at Casa Rosada and meets President Javier Milei.
The program includes a visit to the Pequeño Cottolengo Don Orione in Claypole, Mass at the Monumento de los Españoles, a meeting with workers at the Catholic University of Argentina, an interreligious gathering, vespers with bishops and synodal teams at the Metropolitan Cathedral, a flight to Córdoba for Mass and a clergy meeting, a youth vigil back in Buenos Aires, a visit to the federal prison complex and Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján.
This is the first papal visit to Argentina since St. John Paul II in 1987. Argentina is the homeland of the late Pope Francis. Peru is the longest and most personal stage, from November 11 to 17. The motto is “Let us open our hearts.” Leo XIV arrives at Callao Air Base, holds a welcome ceremony at the Government Palace and meets the president. He visits Lima, Chiclayo, Cusco and Pucallpa.
Events include meetings with Peruvian bishops, a public gathering on challenges facing the country, a youth vigil at the National Stadium, Mass near Pimentel, a private visit to the San Óscar A. Romero Chapel, a university meeting, a helicopter flight to Santa Cruz de Succhabamba for Mass, a rite of coronation of the Immaculate Virgin in Chiclayo’s cathedral, a prayer at Saqsaywaman in Cusco, a meeting with Amazonian missionaries and peoples in Pucallpa, Mass there, a visit to a shelter for abandoned elderly people in Lima, and a final Mass at Las Palmas Air Base before departure on November 16. He returns to Rome on November 17.
The Holy See Press Office stated that the Pope remains clinically fit for travel after surgery on October 13, 2026, at Gemelli Hospital. Surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung after intraoperative examination confirmed lung adenocarcinoma. Doctors reported a successful operation with no complications and normal recovery. Bruni confirmed the program is unchanged.
Robert Francis Prevost, born September 14, 1955, in Chicago, is the first Augustinian and first American-born pope. He spent about two decades in Peru as a missionary, seminary formator and bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023. He holds Peruvian citizenship. The Vatican described the Peru segment as a homecoming that allows him to return to places and communities that shaped his ministry.
The overall program emphasizes encounter, attention to the vulnerable, meetings with young people, workers, prisoners and victims of clerical sexual abuse, and the witness of local saints and blessed. The journey begins with the November 6 flight from Rome’s Fiumicino Airport. The Holy See Press Office has released the complete schedule of times and venues.
