Leo XIV in Latin America: twelve days, nine Masses, three nations

The Holy See Press Office released, on 21 September, the full programme of Leo XIV's apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, from 6 to 17 November 2026. It is the first trip of the pontificate to Latin America, and the longest international route undertaken to date.

A pontifical journey is measured not by the miles covered nor the crowds gathered, but by the faith it confirms. Since the Apostles, the See of Peter has sent its pastors to strengthen their brethren; and the first instinct of Catholic piety, wherever it takes root, is to honour the Mother of God and the saints that land has given to Heaven. It is by this measure, and not by that of the event, that such a journey is judged.

Over twelve days the pope is to celebrate nine public Masses, visit seven cathedrals and preside at two stadium prayer vigils, covering more than nineteen thousand miles across fourteen flights.

In Uruguay, from 6 to 8 November, this is the first papal visit since 1988; the chosen motto is “I bring you good tidings of great joy.” On 8 November a Mass is planned at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Thirty-Three, and a meeting with President Yamandú Orsi is on the programme. The country has the smallest proportion of Christians on the continent, about forty-four per cent of its population.

In Argentina, from 8 to 11 November, homeland of the pope's predecessor, it is the first visit since 1987. A Mass is to be celebrated at the Shrine of Our Lady of Luján, patroness of the country, under the motto “Bienvenidos todos. Vayan y anuncien”; a meeting with President Javier Milei is announced.

In Peru, finally, from 11 to 17 November, the pope returns to the land where he arrived in 1985 as an Augustinian missionary, was bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023 and received Peruvian citizenship. The motto there is “Let us open our hearts.” The stages lead from Lima to Chiclayo, Cusco and Pucallpa, in Amazonia. On 14 November he is to crown a statue of the Virgin at Saint Mary's Cathedral in Chiclayo, then close the jubilee year of Saint Turibius of Mogrovejo, archbishop of Lima from 1579 to 1606. The Peruvian logo shows him surrounded by the country's saints: Rose of Lima, Turibius of Mogrovejo, Martin de Porres, Francis Solano and John Macias.

Sources. Gospel according to Saint Luke (2:10), the angel's announcement to the shepherds: “I bring you good tidings of great joy”; Catechism of the Council of Trent (1566), on the veneration and invocation due to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints; Dom Guéranger, The Liturgical Year, at the feasts of Saint Rose of Lima and Saint Turibius of Mogrovejo.