Pope Leo will undertake one of the most intense foreign tours by a Catholic leader in decades this November, maintaining a grueling schedule of approximately 50 events across Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, according to Vatican announcements released on Monday. The 11-day itinerary, scheduled from November 6 to November 17, will cover roughly 31,000 kilometers (19,260 miles) across 10 cities, with the pontiff slated to deliver 36 speeches.
Itinerary Highlights Across South America
The tour marks the fifth international journey outside Italy for the 71-year-old pontiff in 2026, according to Vatican schedules reported by Reuters. Pope Leo, who is originally from Chicago and holds Peruvian citizenship, will travel through South America following years of service on the continent. Having previously spent decades as a missionary in Peru, Leo served as the bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023, where his itinerary includes a planned dinner with local priests in the northwestern city.
Additional stops on the comprehensive tour include a visit to a federal prison complex in Buenos Aires, a Mass held at a prominent Catholic shrine in Lujan, Argentina, and a special address focusing on the challenges and hopes for the future of the Peruvian people in Lima, as reported by Reuters. The journey represents the first papal visit to South America since the late Pope Francis traveled to Chile and Peru in 2018.
Diplomatic Engagements and Political Context
A central moment of the upcoming tour involves a scheduled meeting and speech addressing Argentine President Javier Milei. President Milei is a right-wing libertarian widely viewed as a close political ally to U.S. President Donald Trump, according to reporting by Reuters. The diplomatic encounter carries added significance following friction earlier in the year when Pope Leo attracted public ire from President Trump after criticizing the Iran war.
The scale of Pope Leo’s upcoming itinerary stands out when compared against recent papal history. While the late Pope Francis undertook a longer tour in September 2024 spanning nearly 33,000 kilometers across Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore over 12 days, Francis operated under precarious health constraints using a wheelchair and limited his engagements to about 30 events, according to Vatican records. Conversely, Pope Leo embarks on the South America tour at age 71 in good health, executing a significantly denser agenda of public addresses and regional visits.