Pope Leo XIV confronted widespread national insecurity and rural hardship on Saturday during a visit to the isolated Andean village of Santa Cruz de Succhabamba in northern Peru, where he addressed communities he once served as bishop.
The pontiff arrived in the remote mountain town by helicopter, landing to a local band singing “Pope Leo, welcome home,” as reported by the St. Lucia Chronicle. Despite the village’s population of roughly 6,000 residents, the Vatican said that approximately 20,000 people gathered for an outdoor Mass.
Addressing the congregation, the Pope spoke directly against the surging crime rates affecting the South American nation. “Selfishness, injustice and evil are not overcome by brutality, but by prayer, patience and perseverance in denouncing what is wrong, by making our pleas with determination and working diligently to bring about the necessary changes,” he said.
Peru’s homicide rate nearly doubled over the past five years, climbing from 5.8 to 10.7 per 100,000 people, according to official figures cited by The Associated Press. Reported extortion cases escalated sharply from 2,421 in 2019 to 26,734 by 2025.
Poverty and Migration Empty Rural Villages in Cajamarca
Beyond urban violence, the Pope turned his focus to the economic vulnerabilities facing rural regions like Cajamarca, where the local population experiences a poverty rate exceeding 40%, the highest figure in Peru according to official data. The region has experienced the country’s highest level of internal migration, with 729,000 individuals born there now residing elsewhere in Peru, BBC News reported.
At the outdoor Mass, the pontiff highlighted “declining birth rates that are emptying villages” and the unequal distribution of resources, according to BBC News. He spoke directly about “the suffering of those who are forced to leave their homeland in search of a better future for themselves and their families in the great coastal cities,” as detailed by the St. Lucia Chronicle.
Originally from Chicago and previously known as Robert Francis Prevost, Pope Leo spent roughly two decades working in Peru as a missionary priest and bishop. From 2015 to 2023, while serving as bishop of Chiclayo, he frequently navigated the winding mountain roads in a pick-up truck to visit the area.
Pope Reflects on Medical Care and Peru's Security Context
The Latin America tour follows a medical procedure roughly a month prior in which the Pope underwent surgery to remove part of his right lung after the discovery of a cancerous lump during routine checks. Reflecting on his own medical care at the start of the trip, he said that it brought to mind those who lack the means to secure a timely diagnosis or medical treatment.
Security concerns dominated Peru’s recent elections, leading Conservative President Keiko Fujimori to take office in July after pledging to suppress criminal organizations. Fujimori subsequently declared states of emergency, including actions in Lima in August and in prisons holding inmates linked to criminal syndicates in September.
In his sermon in Santa Cruz de Succhabamba, the Pope urged attendants to maintain resilience despite ongoing socioeconomic hardships. “We feel threatened by the uncertainty of widespread violence and by the unspeakable suffering that continues to afflict so many of our brothers and sisters,” he noted earlier during his visit to his former cathedral in Chiclayo, according to the St. Lucia Chronicle.
