Pope Leo XIV departs for Uruguay as he begins tour of South America

Pope Leo XIV is kicking off a three-nation tour of Latin America with a visit to Uruguay, the region's most secular country, three weeks after undergoing lung cancer surgery that had put the entire trip into question. The Uruguay leg is the first stop on what will be the longest and farthest trip of his pontificate. According to media reports, Pope Leo is expected to recall the Church's opposition to abortion and euthanasia as part of his broader argument about upholding human dignity in all phases of life. Home to some 40% of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, Uruguay is considered the most secular country in the region where only a fraction of people who identify as Catholic I actually go to mass regularly. Church officials in Uruguay have marveled at the apparent enthusiasm the visit has provoked with reports that tickets to Leo's prayer vigil at Montevideo's Centenario Stadium were snapped up after two days. The trip will also bring Pope Leo to neighboring Argentina and finally back home to Peru where the Pope served as a missionary priest and bishop for two decades.