A mural depicting both Pope Leo XIV, right, and his predecessor Pope Francis, in La Matanza, on the edge of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oct. 28, 2026. (Sarah Pabst/The New York Times) By MOTOKO RICH and MITRA TAJ Just a year and a half into his papacy and less than a month after surgeons removed a lobe of his right lung, Pope Leo XIV, the first pontiff born in the United States, touched down in his homeland on Wednesday. Yet instead of setting foot on American soil, he arrived in Peru, where he…
