Pope Leo is healthy and ready to depart this week for an intense three-country tour of South America less than a month after his lung cancer surgery, Vatican officials said on Tuesday, adding that no extra medical precautions were being taken for the trip.
Leo, 71, leaves on Friday for a 12-day tour of Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, set to be one of the most intense a pope has taken in decades. He had surgery on October 13 to remove the lower lobe of his right lung.
“The pope is in good health,” Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said at a briefing. “We’re not talking of a permanent condition. We’re talking about something that you heal from, because it is surgery.”
The cancer diagnosis for Leo, who became pope in May 2025, caused shock and raised questions about the future shape of his papacy as he deals with the illness.
Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s foreign minister, said last week the health issue was “a bit of a game changer” for how Catholics view Leo’s health and future papacy.
Leo was treated for lung adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer. His doctors have said that examinations of tissue removed in the operation had confirmed the disease was localized and he would not require any further treatments.
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