Pope 'in fairly good shape' – Leo begins South America tour in Uruguay

Pope Leo XIV commenced a 12-day South American tour in Uruguay, appearing in "fairly good shape" after recent surgery for a lung tumor. The 71-year-old pontiff visited Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru on one of the most intense papal trips in decades, meeting various individuals and old friends along the way. Thousands of people gathered in Montevideo's seafront to greet him, though crowds were thinner in Uruguay compared to his visits to France and Spain.

In a speech to a sparse crowd in Montevideo's Plaza Independencia, Pope Leo lamented the country's high suicide rates and called for accessible healthcare. After his Mass in Paysandu, a city in western Uruguay with 30,000 pilgrims expected, he will visit crime-ridden Casavalle, the Catholic University, and a prayer vigil for 60,000 people at the Centenario Stadium.

Pope Leo's visit marks the first to Uruguay by a pope in nearly four decades, and he expressed his hope to bring a message of hope to the world's most Catholic continent. While the Church in liberal Uruguay clashes with conservative leaders on issues like same-sex marriage and euthanasia, Leo emphasized the importance of protecting the unborn. A devoted environmentalist, he commended Uruguay's renewable energy achievements.

The tour's highlight is expected to be Peru, where the Pope served as a missionary for nearly two decades and where he considers himself as having "one of my many homes." As the Church's first US-born pope, Pope Leo also spoke about his recent vote in the US midterm elections, the first papal ballot cast. His tour will continue to Argentina, the homeland of his predecessor Pope Francis, who did not visit during his papacy.