Pope Leo Arrives in Uruguay as First Destination on 12-Day South American Tour
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, to meet political leaders, prisoners, the poor, as well as old friends.
"I'm very happy to be here", Leo told reporters including AFP on the plane before landing in Uruguay, sharing he wanted to bring a "message of hope in today's world."
The leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics said he was "in fairly good shape" following his surgery.
"I know some people were doubtful about this trip taking place," he said, adding: "I had no doubt and was convinced that this trip had to go forward."
Doctors have given him the all-clear to travel, and the Vatican said no special medical measures were necessary beyond the standard care on papal trips.
The Church's first US-born pope – who has repeatedly clashed with US President Donald Trump over the Middle East war – also spoke about voting in this week's US midterm elections.
His mail-in ballot made history as he was the first pope ever known to vote in a political election.
"I'm proud to be an American and to exercise the right" to vote, he said.
The pope has taken on Peruvian as well as his American citizenship, having spent almost two decades in Peru as a missionary and forming a deep attachment to the continent.
He referred to Peru as "one of my many homes" in his remarks on Friday and said he was looking forward to seeing "old things, new things and most of all the people" there.
Leo begins his trip in Uruguay, Latin America's most secular country – and one of the wealthiest – where a tight security operation is in place, with some 5,000 police officers and 1,000 soldiers mobilised.
He will be driven along Montevideo's waterfront promenade in a custom-made popemobile, before meeting left-wing President Yamandu Orsi and receiving the keys to the city.
Cardinal Daniel Sturla, Archbishop of Montevideo, told AFP there was "widespread interest in the pope's visit that goes well beyond the confines of the Catholic Church", with tickets for masses in Paysandu and Florida quickly running out.
The liberal nation is at odds with the centuries-old institution on same-sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia – which was legalised last year – and Leo is expected to appeal to protect life as well as traditional family values.
The pope may also talk about mental health, particularly when visiting the Casavalle neighborhood in Montevideo, which is notorious for high levels of poverty and extreme violence.
Additional source: France 24
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