Pope Leo XIV is nearing the end of a 12-day South American tour, including a six-day visit to Peru, where he spent much of his religious career. (Foto: Instagram)
Pope Leo XIV is nearing the end of his longest papal trip so far, a 12-day tour of South America that began Nov. 6 and is scheduled to conclude Nov. 16. After visiting Uruguay and Argentina, he arrived in Peru on Nov. 11 for a six-day schedule. The trip covers three countries and 10 cities, and Peru holds particular significance for the pope, who spent more than two decades there and built much of his religious career in the country.
On Nov. 14, Leo’s itinerary calls for a ceremony honoring the coronation of the Immaculate Virgin at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Chiclayo. He is then scheduled to travel by helicopter to Santa Cruz de Succhabamba to celebrate Mass. Later, he is expected to attend a prayer gathering with the Catholic community at the Shrine of Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo.
The following day, the pope is due to visit Cusco and Pucallpa. In Cusco, he will meet with worshippers and representatives of popular religious traditions at the archaeological site of Sacsayhuamán, then pray the Angelus in front of the cathedral. He will travel to Pucallpa, in the Amazon region, to meet missionaries and representatives of Amazonian peoples. The day is set to end with a Mass.
Leo’s final scheduled day in Peru is Nov. 16. He is expected to visit a shelter in Callao run by the Little Sisters of the Abandoned Elderly and celebrate Mass at Las Palmas Air Base in Lima. A farewell ceremony is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. before his flight to Rome. He is expected to arrive in the city on the morning of Nov. 17.
During his first days in Peru, Leo arrived in Lima on Nov. 11, was welcomed by officials and attended an official ceremony at the Government Palace, where he met with President Keiko Fujimori. On Nov. 12, he met with bishops, clergy members and civil society representatives, and attended a prayer vigil with young people and university students at the National Stadium. The next day, he traveled to Chiclayo, where he served as bishop for eight years. He celebrated Mass near the Pampas de Pimentel, visited the San Óscar A. Romero Chapel and met with religious figures and members of the university community.
Born in Chicago, Robert Francis Prevost arrived in Peru in 1985 as an Augustinian missionary. Over the years, he held pastoral and administrative roles in the Peruvian Catholic Church, work that shaped his religious formation and brought him closer to local communities. He returned to Peru in 2014 to take up the Diocese of Chiclayo and was appointed the city’s bishop the following year, serving until 2023. During that period, he also led the Peruvian Episcopal Conference. Prevost became a Peruvian citizen through naturalization in 2015. In 2023, Pope Francis appointed him prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops. Two years later, Prevost was elected to succeed Francis as head of the Catholic Church.
