By Joshua McElwee
VATICAN CITY, Oct 27 (Reuters) – Since undergoing surgery on October 13 to treat lung cancer, Pope Leo has weighed a major decision: whether to press ahead with an intense, three-country tour of South America just 24 days after having part of one lung removed.
But in the end, according to a biographer and other experts, Leo had little choice but to continue with a visit to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru as the Vatican announced on Monday, to show he remains up to the job of leading the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
Leo, 71, was born in the US but spent decades as a missionary and bishop in Peru before becoming pope. He is also devoted to that country, where he became a citizen and which he considers an adopted home.
“Cancelling would have meant … sending a certain message that this (surgery) has been a real rupture in this pontificate,” Massimo Faggioli, a papal historian, told Reuters.
“The message is now, ‘No, that health crisis is over. And I can do it,'” said Faggioli, a professor at Villanova University, near Philadelphia, where Leo earned one of his diplomas.
Elise Allen, author of a biography of the pope for Penguin Peru, said his decision “shows an incredible determination to continue with the mission that he believes has been entrusted to him by God.”
FOREIGN TRIPS NOW INTEGRAL PART OF PAPACY
Travelling abroad has become a major part of the modern papacy, with popes seeking to meet local Catholics, spread the faith, and conduct international diplomacy.
They often draw large crowds, and officials in Argentina have estimated that some seven million people will attend events with Leo over his three days in that country.
Making foreign trips has become an integral part of being pope, said Faggioli. “That has become the real test of the papacy, if you can do exhausting trips or not,” he said. “The papacy is … a global job and you have to be there in person.”
Leo’s November 6-17 South America tour is set to be one of the most intense taken by a pope in decades. He is scheduled to travel some 31,000 km (19,300 miles) over the 10-city tour and give 36 speeches.
The Vatican said on Monday that the pope was fit for the trip, citing Leo’s personal physician Dr. Luigi Carbone.
Dr. Stephen Liu, a lung cancer expert at Georgetown University in Washington and division chief of hematology-oncology at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, said the risks of complications for the pope related to the surgery now appear “quite low.”
He said that Leo being cleared to fly by his doctors should indicate that his operated lung has fully expanded and any surgical wounds are healing without signs of infection.
“My primary advice for patients in this situation is not to push themselves too far and to listen to their body when it asks for rest,” Liu told Reuters.
“I would expect his team would primarily be watching for any signs of exhaustion” during the trip, said the doctor.
CATHOLICS WILL WATCH TRIP CLOSELY
Leo is recovering from surgery two weeks ago in which doctors removed the lower lobe of his right lung to treat lung adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer.
The pope’s doctors said last week that further examinations of the tissue removed in the operation had confirmed the cancer was localized and he would not require any further ongoing cancer treatments.
The Vatican said on Monday the trip would go forward with no changes to the previously planned itinerary, which includes 12 flights and two helicopter trips.
The Vatican press office did not immediately respond to questions about whether there would be any additional emergency planning for the trip or additional medical personnel added to the tour.
“It is very intense and I think the risks are very real,” said Allen, the only journalist to interview Leo since his May 2025 election. “But obviously, Leo is confident in how he’s feeling and his medical team is confident in what they’re seeing.”
Faggioli said he expects Catholics across the world will be watching the trip closely, to see how Leo is faring.
“Everyone will look at every speech he gives, every hand he shakes,” said the academic. “This decision will keep some people, as we say in Italian, ‘sulle spine’ (on tenterhooks).”
(Reporting by Joshua McElwee, editing by Keith Weir)
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