OpinionPope Leo on emotional South America tour weeks after cancer surgery:

“I confess that from the first day, I had no doubt. I was convinced that this trip had to go forward and very happy to say, praise the Lord and thanks to wonderful medical assistance, I am here today, I think, in fairly good shape.”— Pope Leo XIV told reporters aboard the plane en route to Latin America, weeks after undergoing surgery for lung cancer.

“In an age when differences can easily become a source of conflict, persevering in respect for the law, negotiation and the patient search for agreements is a service that Uruguay can continue to offer its neighbours.”— Pope Leo said this to a crowd in Montevideo’s Independence Square as he called for regional co-operation.

“But that's not necessarily going to translate into folks in the pews. If the overarching goal is trying to revitalize Catholicism in the most Catholic region on Earth, Uruguay is kind of a lost cause, and it has been for decades.”— Andrew Chesnut, chair of Catholic studies and an expert on the Latin American church at Virginia Commonwealth University, discussing the prospects for revitalizing Catholicism in Uruguay through the pope’s visit.