By Gabriel Pomeroy
The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Leo will go on his South American tour as planned, following his surgery for lung cancer.
He was diagnosed with lung cancer and underwent successful surgery in Rome on 13 October to remove a tumour on the lower part of his right lung.
The 71-year-old is scheduled to travel to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from 6-17 November, the Vatican said, adding that the he was looking forward to it “with great joy and enthusiasm”.
The Pope will follow the same programme as planned, visiting 10 cities on the tour.
‘I am looking forward to returning to the continent where I’ve experienced so many moments of my life,’ Pope Leo said. The Pope’s trip will begin in Uruguay on 8 November, where he will visit the capital, Montevideo, as well as other key cities.
He will then travel to Argentina from November 11-17, visiting a number of places, including the capital, Buenos Aires.
After that, he will spend six days in Peru, where roughly 76% of the population are Catholics, and will include stops in Lima, Chiclayo, Cuzco and Pucallpa.
Peru’s Cardinal Castillo, the Archbishop of Lima, has said the trip would involve young people, women who help run community kitchens and members of the country’s indigenous communities, according to Vatican News.
The Archbishop highlighted the Pope’s close ties with the people of Chiclayo, where he lived for several years. The Pope has Peruvian citizenship.
The Catholic Church sent him to Peru as a missionary in 1985, when he was 30 years old. He joined the Augustinian Mission in Chulucanas, in the Peruvian department of Piura, and the following year, joined the mission in the city of Trujillo. For almost three decades, he worked between the US and Peru.
Leo announced the news of his lung operation himself to the world on 11 October during his weekly Sunday prayers, telling the crowd in St Peter’s Square that doctors had found a nodule on his lung.
He reassured pilgrims that the growth was ‘well-contained’ and caught ‘at an early stage’ but that his doctors had advised him to have it removed.
The surgery lasted for 90 minutes, and he was discharged from Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on 17 October.
The Pope’s surgeon, Stefano Margaritora, said he was in an ‘absolutely satisfactory clinical condition,’ and that there were ‘no clinical reasons’ why the trip should not go ahead.
Tests showed the cancer was localised. Since his operation, the Pope has been resting and gradually resuming his work. He has been ‘adjusting his daily schedule in consultation with his doctors to prioritise his recovery while continuing to fulfill the responsibilities of his ministry,’ the Vatican said.
Pope Leo was ‘deeply grateful for the prayers and affection he has received from throughout the world,’ the Vatican said.
It also announced that Pope Leo would cancel a planned trip to Assisi on October 27th, on the recommendation of his doctors.
