Wire reporting: (AFP, via Buenos Aires Times)

Pope Leo XIV arrived in Montevideo on Friday to begin a 12-day tour of Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, telling reporters traveling with him that he was in fairly good health three weeks after surgery for a lung tumor^1,2.

The 71-year-old pontiff said he was glad the trip, which had been in doubt after doctors found a tumor during a routine scan last month, was going ahead¹. He told journalists on the plane, "Thanks to the marvellous medical staff... I believe I am in quite good health," according to BBC¹. AFP, carried by Buenos Aires Times, rendered a similar comment as being in fairly good shape and said he advised others facing cancer not to be afraid².

BBC reported that last month's operation to remove the tumor was successful and that doctors said the cancer had not spread¹. The visit is his sixth international tour and is expected to cover more than 20,000 miles¹. AFP described it as one of the most intense papal trips in decades, with meetings planned with political leaders, prisoners and the poor².

Thousands of people lined Montevideo's seafront as he passed in a popemobile, AFP reported, though crowds in Plaza Independencia were relatively sparse in what it called Latin America's most secular country². BBC also described a seafront lined with people as he arrived¹. He was welcomed by Uruguay's president, Yamandú Orsi².

In his first speech of the trip, Leo said healthcare should be accessible to everyone and that the care he received made him think of people without the means for a timely diagnosis or treatment^1,2. AFP said he also spoke about Uruguay's high suicide rates, called for protection of the unborn, and praised the country's use of renewable energy². BBC said he ended the day with a prayer at Montevideo Cathedral¹.

AFP said Saturday's program included Mass in Paysandú, a visit to Montevideo's Casavalle neighborhood, the Catholic University and a prayer vigil at Centenario Stadium, and that this was the first papal visit to Uruguay in nearly four decades².

He is due to travel on Sunday to Argentina, the homeland of the late Pope Francis, who did not return there as pope^1,2. The later stop in Peru, where Leo spent years as a missionary and bishop, has been described by the Vatican as a homecoming¹. What is not yet clear from these reports is how the remainder of the tour will be paced given the recent surgery^1,2.