CHICLAYO (Realist English). Pope Leo XIV arrived in Chiclayo at about 9 a.m. local time. The city, located 10,700 km from Rome, knew him as bishop from 2015 to 2023, and for local residents he remains “padre” (father) and “amigo” (friend). “We want to see him in person,” Reuters quotes 55-year-old Chiclayo resident Noemi Chumán Pasko, who knew him during his time as bishop. “Let him give us his blessing.”
Scale of the pilgrimage
People began taking places at Pampas de Pimentel — a vast desert park west of the city — as early as Thursday night, and some arrived 20 hours before the Mass began.
Car queues forced many to walk; along the roads, vendors sold hats, miniature figurines of the pope and Peruvian sweet bread. Chiclayo authorities estimate that about a million people may gather for the Mass; according to El Comercio, up to 900,000 participants are expected. An area of about 81 hectares with 17 giant screens and separate service zones has been prepared to accommodate such a crowd.
Connection to the city: from pandemic to floods
Chiclayo residents remember Prevost not only as a church hierarch but also as a man who stayed with them in difficult times. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he helped build oxygen production plants, and during devastating floods he put on rubber boots and helped people get out of the muddy water. “He left a significant mark here — through his personal style, character and actions,” AFP quotes the vicar general of the Diocese of Chiclayo, Jorge Villegas. “He reached every corner of the diocese, where the geography is far from simple.”
Visit programme: Mass, chapel and dinner with clergy
In addition to the Mass at Pampas de Pimentel, on Friday the pope will make a private visit to the San Óscar Romero chapel in one of Chiclayo’s poorest neighbourhoods, which he helped restore, meet with clergy and students of the Catholic University of Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo, and in the evening dine with priests of the Diocese of Chiclayo who previously reported to him as bishop.
On Saturday, 14 November, he will lead the coronation ceremony of the Virgin Mary Immaculate in the Santa María Cathedral, and then travel to Santa Cruz de Suchabamba (Cajamarca region).
Record tour of South America
The visit to Peru became the final stage of Leo XIV’s 12-day tour of South America, which began with Uruguay and Argentina. In Lima on Wednesday, 11 November, he was met by about 3 million people — the largest audience in the 18 months of his pontificate and a record after 2.5 million in Argentina.
In just over a week in South America, the pope gathered an estimated 10 million people at public events. The trip began less than a month after surgery to remove lung cancer, but according to Reuters, the 71-year-old pontiff “looked in good shape” and actively greeted crowds from the open popemobile.
Leo XIV’s return to Chiclayo is not just the final stop of a South American tour but a deeply personal and symbolic gesture. For the city where he served for eight years, the pope remains “padre,” not the head of the Vatican, and the massive turnout reflects not only religious fervour but also memory of his human closeness during the pandemic and natural disasters.
For the Vatican, this visit is an opportunity to strengthen ties with a region where the Catholic Church is losing ground to evangelical denominations and to demonstrate that the missionary pontiff has not forgotten his “second homeland.” However, the key question is whether the pope’s moral authority can convert into long-term influence on Peru’s political and social agenda, or whether the mass Masses will remain a bright but short-lived episode in the country’s life.
