Montevideo – Pope Leo XIV drew inspiration from his own recent experience of illness and hospitalization after surgery for lung cancer Friday to make a passionate call for universal access to health care, greater social equality and a society that does not measure people’s worth by their productivity or wealth.
“Recently I experienced first-hand the limitations imposed by illness and received care for which I am grateful,” the Pope said in his first speech after arriving in Uruguay, before the country’s political and civic leaders.
Pope Leo XIV left the Gemelli hospital in Rome four days later deletion a cancerous tumor of his right lung. “This experience made me think of the many men and women who cannot afford to get a timely diagnosis or receive the treatment they need.”
“Ensuring that health care is accessible to all, regardless of their resources, is a duty faced by every society,” he said.
Uruguay is the first step in a 12 day trip this also includes Argentina and Peru. Leo’s doctors said he did not need any further treatment after his operation and had been cleared to travel. The travel schedule is the longest international trip of his pontificate so far, covering 19,000 miles, 14 flights, 36 speeches and around 50 events.
Vatican officials told reporters before the trip that the pope would be accompanied by a medical team, as is customary on papal trips, but that no special measures were being taken. “We are talking about a 71-year-old in good health,” the Vatican spokesperson said.
The trip to Latin America is Leo’s first return as pope to the country and region that profoundly shaped his vision and where he spent decades of his life, first as an Augustinian missionary and then as bishop of Chiclayo, Peru. The Pope holds American and Peruvian citizenship.
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Leo’s remarks on caring for the sick are part of a broader call for a society where the most vulnerable are protected and economic development benefits everyone rather than the elite.
“Wealth creation and economic initiative… must also translate into goods and opportunities that actually reach everyone,” Leo said.
While commending Uruguay for four decades of uninterrupted democracy, he stressed that a country’s success is ultimately measured by how it protects human dignity and cares for the most vulnerable in society.
Leo also spoke up for children, including unborn children. Abortion was legalized in Uruguay in 2012, making it one of the first countries in Latin America to do so.
“Their absolute dependence on their mother in no way diminishes the dignity to which they are entitled nor the protection they deserve,” the pope said.
Children, he said, must have access to quality education and opportunities to enter the job market and gain personal independence. Addressing a topic close to his heart, he said technological advances and artificial intelligence must serve human beings rather than replace workers.
Leo will remain in Uruguay until Sunday, when he will continue his trips to Argentina and Peru. The Vatican spokesman said Leo would address a range of issues, including the environment, weapons tracing and political instability.
The pope will also hold meetings with survivors of sexual abuse by clerics, but no further details are available at this time.
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