Pope Leo XIV left Rome’s Fiumicino airport this Friday, November 6, bound for Montevideo, at the start of his apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, the sixth of his pontificate. According to Vatican News reported, the ITA Airways plane carrying the Pontiff and the journalists accompanying him took off at 7:05 a.m.
The trip will last until November 17. Over those twelve days, the Pope will visit ten cities, make approximately a dozen flights and deliver nearly forty speeches, all in Spanish, the mother tongue of most of the faithful who will welcome him.
Montevideo, first stop with authorities and Vespers
The first stop is the Uruguayan capital. The plane is scheduled to land at Carrasco International Airport around 4:30 p.m. local time, with the welcome ceremony set for 5:30 p.m. in Plaza Independencia. Afterward, Pope Leo XIV will meet with representatives of the authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps, and will visit the President of the Republic.
The day will conclude with the celebration of Vespers in Montevideo’s Metropolitan Cathedral, together with bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated persons and seminarians. In Uruguay, the Pope is also expected to speak at the Catholic University before the educational community, as InfoVaticana previously reported, and to preside over Mass before the Virgin of the Thirty-Three, in the most secular country in the region.
Afterward, Argentina and Peru
From Uruguay, Pope Leo XIV will continue to Argentina, where he will visit Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Luján. The final leg of the journey will take him to Peru, where he will be in Lima, Chiclayo, Cusco and Pucallpa. The details of each day are listed in the official program published by the Holy See.
The itinerary was presented last Tuesday by the Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, Montse Alvarado, during the briefing with the journalists accompanying the Pope. Already in Peru, the Apostolic Nunciature in Lima presented the two popemobiles that will be used during his stay in the country.