Pope Leo XIV is journeying back to the continent where he dedicated two decades to his mission as a priest and honed his pastoral skills, with visits planned for Uruguay, Argentina, and his adopted homeland of Peru.
The trip, scheduled from November 6 to 17, represents the longest and most distant travel of his papacy, occurring just three weeks after Leo had surgery to excise a cancerous tumor from his right lung.
Here is a glimpse of a statue crafted by sculptor Rafael Gutierrez, who claims it to be the largest representation of the pontiff, now being erected near Lima, Peru.
The towering 14-meter sculpture was transported in two parts from its creation workshop to the installation location, which offers a view of the Pacific Ocean in Callao, early on a Friday morning.
(Ernesto Benavides/AFP/Getty Images)
A worker secures the upper portion of the statue during its setup in El Niño Park.
(Guadalupe Pardo/The Associated Press)
A crane is utilized to hoist the upper section to be affixed to its base.
(Guadalupe Pardo/The Associated Press)
(Sebastian Castaneda/Reuters)
Onlookers erupted in applause as the installation reached completion.
(Guadalupe Pardo/The Associated Press)