FIUMICINO: Pope Leo XIV headed to South America on Friday for an emotionally charged reunion with the continent that helped shape his priesthood, three weeks after undergoing surgery for lung cancer.
The 71-year-old head of the Catholic Church will visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru over 12 days in one of the most intense papal foreign trips in decades, meeting political leaders, prisoners, the poor and old friends.
A smiling Leo waved to onlookers before boarding his plane under overcast skies at Rome’s Fiumicino airport. The aircraft took off shortly after 0600 GMT, according to AFP journalists.
The Church’s first US-born pope served for almost two decades in Peru as a missionary, forming a deep attachment to the continent. Leo said on Wednesday that he was looking forward to returning to those countries “so dear to me”.
