Cardinal Daniel Sturla of Montevideo Photo: El Grand Continent

These are the first countries Pope Leo would visit according to Cardinal Sturla’s statements

During a radio interview on May 21 with Uruguay’s Radio Carve, Cardinal Sturla, a participant in the conclave that elected Leo XIV earlier this month, shared what he described as “very high” chances that Uruguay will be part of the Pope’s itinerary.

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(ZENIT News / Montevideo, 05.26.2025).- The first papal trip of Leo XIV to Latin America is shaping up to be not only a diplomatic gesture but a personal pilgrimage. According to Cardinal Daniel Sturla of Montevideo, the new pope’s debut visit to the region is expected to include Argentina, Uruguay, and possibly Peru—three countries that trace his roots and reflect his path within the Church.

During a radio interview on May 21 with Uruguay’s Radio Carve, Cardinal Sturla, a participant in the conclave that elected Leo XIV earlier this month, shared what he described as “very high” chances that Uruguay will be part of the Pope’s itinerary. «He is very aware,» Sturla noted, «that Argentina and Uruguay were not included in Pope Francis’ travels—not by his own choice, but due to how events unfolded.» That omission, it seems, is about to be amended.

For Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Prevost, such a journey would not just be about state visits or papal audiences. It would mark a return to a continent where he ministered, listened, and learned long before donning the white cassock. In Peru, he served as bishop of Chiclayo and later as apostolic administrator of Callao. There, in the urban margins and rural communities, his episcopal vocation took shape.

To include Peru in his first Latin American voyage would be to acknowledge that personal formation—those years spent immersed in the lives of the poor, in dialogue with indigenous communities, and in service through the Augustinian charism that shaped his priesthood.

Cardinal Sturla was careful to distinguish continuity from mimicry. “He will continue the major, innovative and positive lines of Pope Francis,” he said, “but with a very different style.” Where Francis was known for spontaneous gestures and improvisational warmth, Leo XIV, Sturla noted, is deliberate, introspective, and measured.

“He listens deeply. He speaks little, and when he does, he speaks slowly, with thought,” the cardinal observed. “It’s a different temperament, and perhaps that’s exactly what the Church needs right now.”

That difference may be precisely what shapes the pastoral tone of the trip. Rather than a sweeping, rhetorical tour, Leo XIV’s journey could take the form of a pilgrimage of presence—marked by listening sessions, quiet visits to communities often overlooked, and reaffirmation of the Church’s commitment to the people of Latin America.

For Uruguay, the possibility of a papal visit carries special resonance. While John Paul II visited the country in the 1980s, Uruguay was notably absent from Pope Francis’ travel schedule. The reasons were logistical and circumstantial, not personal—but still, the absence was felt.

Sturla’s optimism hints that the new pope may prioritize countries that haven’t recently hosted the successor of Peter. A visit to Uruguay would not only close that chapter but open a new one in papal diplomacy: one marked by reconciliation with overlooked corners of the Catholic world and renewed attention to smaller nations often passed over.

Cardinal Sturla also offered a rare window into the gravity of the conclave itself. “I had always imagined being in St. Peter’s Square when a new pope was chosen,” he reflected. “But to be inside—on the other side of the process—was something powerful.” The moment when Cardinal Robert Prevost responded “Accepto,” he said, was when “he became the successor of Peter.”

If Leo XIV indeed walks the streets of Buenos Aires, Montevideo, or Chiclayo in the coming months, he will do so not only as pope, but as a son coming home—with the quiet resolve of a man who has never forgotten where he learned to listen.

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