Pope Leo XIV continues trip through South America as health authorities keep watch

Pope Leo XIV is holding a mass in Santa Cruz de Succhabamba in northern Peru on Saturday as he continues his tour of South America, drawing huge crowds as people seek to catch a glimpse of the 71-year-old pontiff.

After travelling by helicopter from Chiclayo air base to Santa Cruz de Succhabamba, Leo flies back for a prayer meeting with the Catholic community at the shrine of Saint Toribio de Mogrovejo in the evening.

The pope returned to his beloved former hometown of Chiclayo on Friday.

The Chicago-born pontiff, who previously worked as a missionary and then bishop in Peru and holds Peruvian citizenship, presided over an open-air mass for around 500,000 people in the city.

"What a joy it is to return to Chiclayo!" Leo said. "Thank you for your affection, support and prayers, especially for my health during this time of trial which, with God's help, I am overcoming."

But the huge crowds turning out to see the pope have prompted heightened fears among health authorities in Latin America, which has seen a surge in measles cases this year.

From January to the end of October, 57,666 confirmed cases were recorded in 17 countries and territories in the Americas, almost five times more than in the same period the previous year. At least 81 deaths have been reported.

Ahead of Leo's visit, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) considered the public health risk of measles "very high" in the context of the expected religious mass gatherings.

The concern is mainly linked to low vaccination rates in some countries, particularly Argentina and Peru.

"We’re seeing children not going to school, children being hospitalized," Daniel Salas Peraza, the head of immunization at PAHO, said. "It’s a very complex situation."