Holycopter ride! Pope sits in cockpit as Air Force flies him to Cusco

DAILYMAIL.COM • 17m ago

By ELEANOR MANN 22:21 15 Nov 2026, updated 22:21 15 Nov 2026

Pope Leo XIV entered the cockpit and waved to the crowd, as he was flown by the Peruvian Air Force to Cusco during the final leg of his three-country tour of Latin America.

The Pope, who had recently had part of his lung removed as part of his cancer treatment, neatly folded his robes, sat down and calmly donned a headset, chatting to the pilots as they flew him over Chiclayo on Saturday.

He had served as the bishop for the city for eight years, and the Pope – who was wearing his traditional white cassock and pectoral cross – smiled as he waved out of the window to the crowds of devoted Catholics below.

The helicopter ride on Saturday brought Pope Leo to the mountain city of Cusco, one of many stops on his busy Latin America visit to three countries in 12 days.

The mission saw the religious leader take more than 12 flights and covered over 18,600 miles across Argentina, Uruguay and Peru.

The Pope took the chopper ride to his first stop of Cusco, the former capital of the Inca empire.

There, Leo praised people’s traditional expression of popular piety, such as processions and religious festivals, as effective ways of forging community and transmitting the faith – especially to young people.

Huge crowds lined Cusco’s cobblestoned streets and packed its central Plaza de Armas, an imposing square decorated with a blend of Inca and Spanish colonial buildings.

Many people wore the traditional Andean hats and colorful wool vests typical of the region, while others wore plastic ponchos to guard against a drizzling morning rain.

Margarida Salomon, 63, said: ‘It is all worth it.’ She had come from Sucre in Bolivia to see the pontiff, spending about $500 to take a bus, sleep in a tent and eat Peruvian food from stalls. ‘I am still getting to know this pope, but the fact he is here in the Andes means a lot.’

The visit to Cusco, which is 11,000ft above sea level, tested the Pope’s stamina as he continues his recovery from lung cancer surgery last month.

Pope Leo sat in the chair of his popemobile during part of the ride around Cusco, but it wasn’t clear if that was to preserve his energy or to steady himself on the uneven streets.

In general, the 71-year-old has seemed unfazed by the toll of the three-nation South American trip, the longest of his pontificate.

While others traveling on the papal plane have fallen ill during their travels, Leo showed no sign of weakness or fatigue since the trip began on November 6. In fact, he seemed energized, especially from the days spent in his former diocese of Chiclayo seeing old friends.

On Sunday, the Pope’s last full day in Peru, he criss-crossed the nation to minister to communities high in the Andes mountains before he arrived in Pucallpa in the rainforest.

He travelled deep into the Peruvian rainforest and demanded justice for environmental defenders, who were killed for protecting the Amazon.

The Pope also backed the efforts by Indigenous peoples to stop their lands from being ravaged by logging and illegal exploitation.

On the penultimate day of his South American odyssey, Leo traveled to the northeastern Peruvian Amazon city of Pucallpa and channelled one of Pope Francis’ core teachings that links care for the most vulnerable with care for God’s creation.

Leo told the Indigenous representatives and missionaries gathered along the Ucayali River: ‘The cry of the earth and the cry of the poor are inseparable.’

He said he came to Pucallpa to support them in their search for justice and peace and referred to what environmental groups estimate have been 57 murders of environmental defenders between 2010-2024.

‘The blood of these brothers cries out to God and demands justice,’ Leo said to applause from the crowd.

Leo also addressed the combination of threats posed by illegal gold mining. The trade has become an increasingly lucrative business in the Amazon, but it has polluted rivers, devastated forests and driven Indigenous communities out.

The Pope delivered one of his most forceful speeches to date, drawing on his years of experience as a Peruvian bishop and Francis’ constant preaching about the environment and the plight of Indigenous groups.

He demanded a different model of economic development that respects the Earth and the Indigenous who care for it rather than the ‘irresponsible exploitation’ by outside actors.

‘You know well the damage caused by indiscriminate deforestation and the pollution of rivers and other waters through illegal mining and oil spills,’ he said.

‘These are not isolated accidents, but the consequences of the irresponsible exploitation of natural resources, which undermines the very existence of communities.’

Leo also referred to a notorious rise in sexual violence against Indigenous Awajún and Wampis schoolgirls in Condorcanqui province in the northern Amazon, and blasted the ‘complicity,’ ‘impunity’ and ‘corruption’ surrounding them.

The Awajún and Wampis Women’s Council, or Comuawuy, has recorded 370 cases of sexual violence in the province between January and July alone.

Following the women’s persistent demands for justice, specialized prosecutors’ offices were created, and the government launched a prevention plan.

In January, the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations announced a 32-year prison sentence for a man accused of sexual violence against a 14-year-old girl.

Leo said the church was ‘deeply concerned’ by the suffering endured by the victims and called for healing, consolation and reparation.

‘Such abuse leaves deep wounds, often compounded by complicity and impunity,’ he said. ‘Corruption and arbitrary practices undermine the trust in the basic goodness of others.’

The Reverend Peter Hughes, an 84-year-old Irish priest who has lived in Peru for more than six decades, said Leo’s itinerary reflected the church’s concern for the poor.

‘In Latin American terms, the Indigenous peoples, or what is left of them, are the most important collective representing the truly poor,’ he said.

‘That is what makes leaders like Pope Francis and Pope Leo speak the language of the Gospel in very human terms, putting a premium on justice and peace.

‘In the Christian sense of justice, the most important people are the poor, the marginalized, and those who have no voice,’ he said.

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