Pope Leo XIV confirms Mexico visit to Basilica of Guadalupe, Digi Mart USA News (Mexico City, Mexico): The Holy See has officially confirmed that Pope Leo XIV will make a pastoral visit to Mexico, with the main objective of visiting the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City. The exact date of the trip, however, remains undetermined.
The confirmation was made by María Montserrat Alvarado, prefect of the Dicastery for Communication of the Holy See, during the announcement of the papal agenda for South America. That itinerary includes stops in Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from November 6 to 17.
“The Holy Father will indeed go to see our Lady of Guadalupe,” Alvarado told reporters. She said the final date and complete itinerary will be announced formally at a later time, and that the pope’s arrival on Mexican soil could take place around the year 2027.
Alvarado’s statements back earlier remarks by Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See, who said the pontiff plans to stop at the Tepeyac shrine as part of a future tour of the United States. Mexico was not included in the first stage of this year’s Latin American trips due to logistics planned for the Southern Cone.
The announcement comes amid religious change in the region. A report issued by the Pew Research Center in early 2026 showed a steady decline in the share of Catholics in Latin America over the past decade, with drops of up to 46% among the adult population in countries such as Brazil and Chile.
Despite this regional trend, Mexico retains a strong demographic weight for the Catholic Church. This concentration of believers keeps the Mexican Republic a priority destination within the Holy See’s international agenda.
