will travel to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru from November 6 to 17, accepting invitations from the heads of state and ecclesiastical authorities of the three countries, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni announced on Wednesday.
During the trip, the Supreme Pontiff will visit Montevideo, Paysandu, and Florida from November 6 to 8; Buenos Aires, Cordoba, and Lujan from November 8 to 11; and Lima, Chiclayo, Cusco, and Pucallpa from November 11 to 17.
The 12-day Latin American tour, covering 10 cities from November 6 to 17, will surpass the previous record set by his trip to Africa last April.
Born in Chicago, United States, Pope Leo XIV will return to Peru, a country whose nationality he has held since 2015 and where he lived for nearly 20 years as an Augustinian missionary before serving as Bishop of Chiclayo for eight years.
He was later called to the Vatican by Pope Francis to lead the Dicastery for Bishops.
The Pope will also visit two countries that Francis did not travel to during his 12-year pontificate: Argentina and Uruguay.
The visit to Uruguay—the Latin American nation with the region's lowest percentage of Catholics (just over 36%)—will take place nearly 40 years after Pope John Paul II visited the country in 1987 and again in 1988.
Despite its high level of secularization, Uruguay maintains a strong tradition of popular religiosity, Italian media reported, particularly through devotion to its patroness, Our Lady of the Thirty-Three, a small wooden Marian statue regarded as a national symbol.
Pope Leo XIV will pay homage to the Virgin by traveling to Florida, where the original statue is preserved in the city's cathedral.
Meanwhile, the last papal visit to Argentina took place in 1987, when Pope John Paul II toured 10 cities. Leo XIV is scheduled to visit Lujan, home to the country's patron saint.
The trip will mark the return of a pope to Latin America, a region of special importance to the Catholic Church and home to a significant share of its faithful.
Pope Francis' last visit to the region was to Panama from January 23 to 28, 2019, for the 34th World Youth Day.
The Latin American tour will be Pope Leo XIV's sixth international trip, following visits to Turkey and Lebanon in November 2025; the Principality of Monaco in March; Algeria, Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea in April; and Spain in June. France will be his next destination, with a visit scheduled for September 24–28.
(END) EFE/RES/MVB