Pope Leo in Uruguay to kick off South America tour just weeks after lung surgery

Pope Leo began an emotionally charged tour of South America on Friday, returning to a continent that helped shape his priesthood just three weeks after undergoing lung cancer surgery.

The 71-year-old head of the Catholic Church will visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru over 12 days in one of the most intense papal foreign trips in decades, meeting political leaders, prisoners, the poor, as well as old friends.

“I’m very happy to be here,” Leo told reporters on the plane before landing in Uruguay,...