Pope León XIV will make his first Apostolic Journey to South America from November 6 to 17, 2026, with visits to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru. The official announcement was made by the Holy See on August 5, indicating that the Pontiff accepted the invitations from the heads of state and ecclesiastical authorities of the three countries:
“His Holiness León XIV will make an Apostolic Journey to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru from November 6 to 17, 2026, accepting the invitation of the Heads of State and the ecclesiastical authorities of those respective countries. His Holiness will visit Montevideo, Paysandú, and Florida from November 6 to 8; Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Luján from November 8 to 11; and Lima, Chiclayo, Cuzco, and Pucallpa from November 11 to 17. The program of the trip will be announced in due time.”
For eleven days, León XIV will travel to ten cities: Montevideo, Paysandú, and Florida in Uruguay; Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Luján in Argentina; and Lima, Chiclayo, Cuzco, and Pucallpa in Peru. The detailed program of the visit will be published later by the Holy See.
Uruguay: a message of hope in a deeply secularized country
The first stage of the trip will be in Uruguay, from November 6 to 8. León XIV will visit Montevideo, Paysandú, and Florida. Cardinal Daniel Sturla, Archbishop of Montevideo, highlighted the significance of the visit and noted that the Uruguayan Church has chosen as the motto for the meeting: “I announce to you a great joy.” For the archbishop, the presence of León XIV represents a message of hope for all.
According to data collected by Professor Fernando Altemeyer Junior, assistant professor at PUC-SP (Brazil), Uruguay has approximately 3,382,500 inhabitants, of which 1,100,000 are Catholics, equivalent to 32% of the population. The country is considered the most secularized in Latin America: nearly half of the population declares that they do not belong to any religion or identifies as atheist.
This religious reality constitutes one of the major pastoral challenges of the visit. According to the same data, only about 4% of the Catholic population participates in Sunday mass. The Church in Uruguay is organized into nine ecclesiastical jurisdictions — one archdiocese and eight dioceses, with 235 parishes, 501 priests, 103 permanent deacons, 876 consecrated religious, and 4,257 catechists.
The presence of the Pope will also have historical significance. Saint John Paul II visited Uruguay in March 1987 and returned in May 1988, traveling through Montevideo, Salto, Melo, and Florida. The country also has a recent figure of sainthood: Saint Francisca Rubatto, the first saint of Uruguay, a missionary born in Italy and canonized in 2022.
Argentina: the land of Pope Francis opens its doors to León XIV
From November 8 to 11, León XIV will be in Argentina, where he will visit Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Luján. The visit will have a special significance as it is the homeland of Pope Francis. Argentina currently has about 46 million inhabitants, of which approximately 30 million are Catholics, according to data collected by Professor Fernando Altemeyer Junior. This represents about 57% of the population.
The country has 73 ecclesiastical jurisdictions, 2,793 parishes, and more than 10,000 pastoral care centers. Currently, there are 5,970 priests, 839 permanent deacons, 7,654 consecrated religious, 1,485 major seminarians, and more than 99,000 catechists working in the Argentine Church.
The historical dimension is also relevant. Diocesan organization began in the 16th century, and the Jesuit reductions constituted one of the most significant religious experiences in the country's history. Argentina was also the homeland of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, elected pope on March 13, 2013, under the name Francis, and who passed away in Rome on April 21, 2025.
The Argentine Episcopal Conference invited the entire country to experience the visit as an event of hope and renewal. In their message, the bishops stated that, although the days and cities visited will be few, “it is all of Argentina that opens its heart and doors to the successor of Peter.” The CEA also expressed its desire that the presence of León XIV strengthens the path of communion and encourages the Church to be increasingly close, serving, and committed to the reality of the country.
Peru: seven days in the mission land of León XIV
The third and most extensive stage of the trip will be in Peru, from November 11 to 17. León XIV will visit Lima, Chiclayo, Cuzco, and Pucallpa. The visit will have a particularly personal significance for the Pontiff. León XIV developed an important part of his missionary and pastoral experience in Peru since he arrived in the country in 1985. In Chiclayo, he served as bishop from 2015 to 2023, before taking on the role of prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops. Therefore, his return will also be a reunion with a Church and a people with whom he maintains deep ties.
The president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference, Monsignor Carlos García Camader, received confirmation of the visit with joy and called on Peruvians to prepare spiritually to welcome the Holy Father. “His presence among us will be a true gift for our people and an opportunity to renew our faith, strengthen hope, and walk united as a Church in service of the Gospel”, he expressed.
The data provided by Professor Fernando Altemeyer Junior shows the dimension of the Catholic presence in Peru. The country has approximately 34.3 million inhabitants, of which 22.981 million are Catholics, around 67% of the population. The territory has 46 ecclesiastical jurisdictions, 1,587 parishes, and 6,771 pastoral care centers.
The Peruvian Church has 90 bishops, 3,260 priests, 61 permanent deacons, 11,361 lay missionaries, 1,826 major seminarians, 5,697 consecrated religious, and 55,963 catechists. The country also has significant cultural and linguistic diversity. Alongside Spanish, Quechua and Aymara are official languages in their respective areas, in addition to the existence of dozens of indigenous languages.
The Peruvian journey will take León XIV from Lima to Chiclayo, then to Cuzco in the Andes, and finally to Pucallpa in the Peruvian Amazon. The arrival in Pucallpa takes on particular significance for the missionary dimension of the trip, in a region marked by the cultural richness of the Amazonian peoples and by the social, environmental, and pastoral challenges unique to the Amazon.
The fifth Pontiff to visit South America
With this trip, León XIV will be the fifth Pontiff to visit South America. Saint Paul VI was the first, when he arrived in Bogotá, Colombia, on August 22, 1968. Subsequently, Saint John Paul II made numerous apostolic trips throughout the region, visiting more than 20 countries. Benedict XVI visited Brazil, Mexico, and Cuba, while Francis traveled to ten countries: Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Cuba, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru, and Panama.
The visit of León XIV will thus have a historical, pastoral, and missionary dimension. In eleven days, the Pontiff will travel through three countries with very different ecclesial realities: a deeply secularized Uruguay, an Argentina marked by the memory of Pope Francis, and a Peru where the current Pontiff lived decisive years of his missionary and episcopal experience.
It will also be a journey that begins on the Coast, will traverse the Pampas and the Andes, and culminate in the Amazon, with the visit to Pucallpa, once again placing at the center a region that holds a significant place in the mission of the Latin American Church.
Three countries, three faces of the Church, and three distinct pastoral challenges will welcome the successor of Peter. In Uruguay, León XIV will find a Church called to announce the joy of faith in a deeply secularized society; in Argentina, a community that keeps the memory of Francisco alive; and in Peru, a Church closely linked to the Pontiff's own missionary history.
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