God Bless Pope Leo during missionary travels to South America in Uruguay, Argentina and his beloved Peru
Echo report published in Letters from Leo
Pope Leo XIV stood before Uruguay’s leaders in Montevideo on Friday, 24 days after surgeons in Rome removed the lower lobe of his right lung, and told them what cancer had taught him.
“Very recently I experienced firsthand the limitations imposed by illness and I received care for which I am deeply grateful,” the pope said at Plaza Independencia, speaking in Spanish to President Yamandú Orsi, government officials, civil society leaders, and the diplomatic corps.
Then he turned that gratitude into a demand. “Ensuring that healthcare is accessible to everyone, regardless of their resources, is a duty that confronts every society,” Leo said.
It was the first papal visit to Uruguay since John Paul II came in 1988. The Vatican estimated 30,000 people turned out for the welcome, and crowds along the motorcade route chanted “Pope Leo, Uruguay is with you!” as the 71-year-old rode past in an open-sided popemobile.
A month ago, few people would have bet on that scene. When the Vatican confirmed his adenocarcinoma diagnosis on Oct. 13, the 12-day journey through Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru looked doubtful, and Cardinal Pietro Parolin said the pope might have to “adjust his pontificate.”
The doctors at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital have their own way of describing him. Professor Stefano Margaritora, the thoracic surgeon who operated on Leo, told a story about the second day after the operation, when the staff turned around and found the pope arranging the chairs in the hospital chapel himself.
When the staff offered to take over, Leo told them, “It doesn’t matter. I can do it, so I will.” As Margaritora put it, “He really was an absolutely ideal patient.”
That patient was back at his Angelus window five days after surgery, and on October 21, his doctors confirmed the tumor had been localized and that he would need no further cancer treatment.
He said as much on Friday, telling the crowd that his own care made him think of the “many men and women who lack the means to obtain a timely diagnosis.” Then he put the obligation on everyone in the square. “It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that each person can live with dignity,” he said.
This was not a new theme for him. In February, 2026, Leo told the Pontifical Academy for Life that “healthcare is not a consumer good but a universal right,” as I reported at the time. A month later, he called universal coverage “a moral imperative for societies that wish to call themselves just.” He is the first pope from a country that still has no universal health coverage, and his own illness has only sharpened the point.
Leo did not separate that claim from the rest of the Church’s teaching on life. “The unborn already belong to the human family and to the future of their people,” he said in a country that legalized abortion in 2012, and assisted dying last year.
In Latin America’s most secular country (Uruguay’s official calendar calls Holy Week “Tourism Week”), Leo also made a quiet case for faith in public life. A neutral state, he said, “does not require that the religious dimension be confined to the private sphere.”
This was not a new theme for him. In February, Pope Leo told the Pontifical Academy for Life that “healthcare is not a consumer good but a universal right,” as I reported at the time. A month later, he called universal coverage “a moral imperative for societies that wish to call themselves just.” He is the first pope from a country that still has no universal health coverage, and his own illness has only sharpened the point.
Leo did not separate that claim from the rest of the Church’s teaching on life. “The unborn already belong to the human family and to the future of their people,” he said in a country that legalized abortion in 2012 and assisted dying last year.
He never named the euthanasia law. Instead, he spoke about suicide, arguing that good medical care, family ties, and closeness in the community cannot be pulled apart. “None should ever feel like a stranger among their own,” he said.
In Latin America’s most secular country (Uruguay’s official calendar calls Holy Week “Tourism Week”), Leo also made a quiet case for faith in public life. ✝️
Speaking 24 days after surgeons removed part of his right lung, Leo said his own illness made him think of those who can’t get a timely diagnosis. On the plane, he said he was “proud to be American” and to vote.
Pope Leo XIV stood before Uruguay’s leaders in Montevideo on Friday, 24 days after surgeons in Rome removed the lower lobe of his right lung, and told them what cancer had taught him.
“Very recently I experienced firsthand the limitations imposed by illness and I received care for which I am deeply grateful,” the pope said at Plaza Independencia, speaking in Spanish to President Yamandú Orsi, government officials, civil society leaders, and the diplomatic corps.
Then he turned that gratitude into a demand. “Ensuring that healthcare is accessible to everyone, regardless of their resources, is a duty that confronts every society,” Leo said.
It was the first papal visit to Uruguay since John Paul II came in 1988. The Vatican estimated 30,000 people turned out for the welcome, and crowds along the motorcade route chanted “Pope Leo, Uruguay is with you!” as the 71-year-old rode past in an open-sided popemobile.
A month ago, few people would have bet on that scene. When the Vatican confirmed his adenocarcinoma diagnosis on Oct. 13, the 12-day journey through Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru looked doubtful, and Cardinal Pietro Parolin said the pope might have to “adjust his pontificate.”
“Maybe better”: Leo addressed the doubters himself on the 13½-hour flight from Rome. Walking to the back of the plane to greet the 80 journalists traveling with him, he told them, “I confess that from the first day, I had no doubt and was convinced that this trip had to go forward.”
A reporter asked whether he felt as good as he looked. “Maybe better,” 😊 the pope answered, and the reporters laughed. He credited his recovery to “trusting God, good doctors, good surgeons, and overall I think a healthy lifestyle.”
The doctors at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital have their own way of describing him. Professor Stefano Margaritora, the thoracic surgeon who operated on Leo, told a story about the second day after the operation, when the staff turned around and found the pope arranging the chairs in the hospital chapel himself.
When the staff offered to take over, Leo told them, “It doesn’t matter. I can do it, so I will.” As Margaritora put it, “He really was an absolutely ideal patient.”
That patient was back at his Angelus window five days after surgery, and on October 21, his doctors confirmed the tumor had been localized and that he would need no further cancer treatment.
What Pope Leo's own illness taught him
Leo knows how rare his outcome is. Doctors caught the nodule early during a routine checkup, and after Gemelli’s chief of thoracic surgery removed it, he was home at the Vatican within four days. Millions of sick people around the world never get a scan at all.He said as much on Friday, telling the crowd that his own care made him think of the “many men and women who lack the means to obtain a timely diagnosis.” Then he put the obligation on everyone in the square. “It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that each person can live with dignity,” he said.
This was not a new theme for him. In February, 2026, Leo told the Pontifical Academy for Life that “healthcare is not a consumer good but a universal right,” as I reported at the time. A month later, he called universal coverage “a moral imperative for societies that wish to call themselves just.” He is the first pope from a country that still has no universal health coverage, and his own illness has only sharpened the point.
Leo did not separate that claim from the rest of the Church’s teaching on life. “The unborn already belong to the human family and to the future of their people,” he said in a country that legalized abortion in 2012, and assisted dying last year.
He never named the euthanasia law. Instead, he spoke about suicide, arguing that good medical care, family ties, and closeness in the community cannot be pulled apart. “None should ever feel like a stranger among their own,” he said.
In Latin America’s most secular country (Uruguay’s official calendar calls Holy Week “Tourism Week”), Leo also made a quiet case for faith in public life. A neutral state, he said, “does not require that the religious dimension be confined to the private sphere.”
This was not a new theme for him. In February, Pope Leo told the Pontifical Academy for Life that “healthcare is not a consumer good but a universal right,” as I reported at the time. A month later, he called universal coverage “a moral imperative for societies that wish to call themselves just.” He is the first pope from a country that still has no universal health coverage, and his own illness has only sharpened the point.
Leo did not separate that claim from the rest of the Church’s teaching on life. “The unborn already belong to the human family and to the future of their people,” he said in a country that legalized abortion in 2012 and assisted dying last year.
He never named the euthanasia law. Instead, he spoke about suicide, arguing that good medical care, family ties, and closeness in the community cannot be pulled apart. “None should ever feel like a stranger among their own,” he said.
In Latin America’s most secular country (Uruguay’s official calendar calls Holy Week “Tourism Week”), Leo also made a quiet case for faith in public life. ✝️
A neutral state, he said, “does not require that the religious dimension be confined to the private sphere.”
God Bless Pope Leo 😇
Labels: healthcare, Vatican
posted by Juliana L'Heureux | 4:36 PM
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