BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (OSV News) -- Bishops’ conferences across Latin America urged prayers for the health of Pope Leo XIV, whose visit to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru remains uncertain after he underwent surgery to remove the lower lobe of his right lung.
The pope has been diagnosed with lung cancer, but was making a normal recovery, his physicians said Oct. 14, the day after surgery.
The Peruvian bishops’ conference -- in which Pope Leo served as second vice president while he was bishop of Chiclayo -- called for prayers, “entrusting his life and recovery with filial confidence to the merciful hands of the Lord of Miracles” -- a venerated image of the crucified Christ known as the Cristo Moreno.
On Oct. 14, the Archdiocese of Lima postponed a session of preparations for the papal trip to the Peruvian capital and instead called for a day of prayer.
Bishops in Argentina and Uruguay also requested prayers for Pope Leo. The Uruguayan bishops’ conference asked the faithful to pray the Hail Mary for the pope 3.5 million times and set up a counter for people to register each time they asked for intervention.
The Mexican bishops’ conference has convened a week of prayers for Pope Leo. “We entrust the life and health of Pope Leo XIV to the loving intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, mother of the Church,” the bishops said in an Oct. 13 statement. “May she shelter him beneath her mantle, strengthen him during this time of trial, and grant him serenity and solace.”
Pope Leo is still scheduled to arrive in Uruguay on Nov. 6 for a 12-day visit to South America, which will include stops in 10 cities, 14 flights and two helicopter rides.
The pope’s flight from Rome to Montevideo, capital of Uruguay, is expected to last close to 13 hours. His visit to Cuzco, Peru, will take him high into the Andes at an altitude of more than 11,000 feet.
The Associated Press reported that oncologists often advise patients to avoid flights for three weeks after surgery. This would allow Pope Leo to travel if his recovery proceeds normally. The trip to South America would be the pope’s longest journey since his election in May 2025.
Argentina has declared a national holiday for Nov. 9, Pope Leo’s first full day in the country, along with holidays in the provinces he plans to visit. National security minister Alejandra Monteoliva told news channel LN+ that preparation would continue “until there is an official response from the Vatican.”
President Keiko Fujimori of Peru told reporters Oct. 14 that “there could be changes” in the schedule of the papal trip. But she added, “I want the pope to know that here in Peru, millions of us are praying for his speedy recovery. … We hope for a swift and imminent recovery so that the visit can go ahead, though we would certainly understand if that were not the case. What matters most is that his holiness the pope recovers.”
