Thousands welcomed Pope Leo XIV in Peru at the Pampas de Pimentel, where the pontiff urged the faithful to renew their missionary commitment.
The visit to the vast desert plain in the Lambayeque region marked a return to northern Peru for Robert Francis Prevost, who served as bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023, Vatican News reported.
The Pontífice had traveled early from Lima, landing shortly after 9 in the morning at the city’s air base on his third day of an apostolic journey to the Andean country, where Chiclayo stands as the fourth most populated city.
Thousands of volunteers and local believers gathered for the Mass, recalling his eight years of pastoral work in the diocese where he was known as “padre Roberto,” according to Vatican News.
“¡Qué alegría volver a Chiclayo! Es una bendición para mí estar de nuevo con ustedes,” said Pope Leo XIV.
He also invited attendees at that first celebration of their reunion before the altar of the Lord in Chiclayo and across Peru to assume the commitment to share the living hope that is Jesus Christ, and to overflow their hamlets, towns, and cities with the Gospel to proclaim the glory of the Lord to everyone, remembering that the Church carries out the mission of announcing Jesus Christ so that it reaches all the ends of the earth and transforms human realities according to the values of the Gospel.
Pope Francis addresses clerical abuse and violence against women
The Vatican’s attention to these abuses follows the 2025 dissolution of the Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana by Pope Francis, a decision influenced by Prevost’s prior tenure in Peru, Página|12 stated, while noting that the clerical abuse condemnation occurs as the Peruvian church confronts the impact of sexual, physical, and psychological abuse allegations within the ultraconservative Catholic organization protected by ecclesiastical hierarchy for over four decades.
During subsequent public meetings, the pope criticized machismo and violence against women while addressing family defense, human dignity, corporate responsibility, and the impact of artificial intelligence, Página|12 reported.
Musical Echoes from Argentina
The papal journey also featured emotional musical moments echoing his recent stop in Buenos Aires, Diario El Día de La Plata reported.
Vatican official transmission images captured the moment the pontiff listened to the crowd sing and placed a hand to his face to wipe away tears, recalling his emotional reaction the previous Monday during an encounter with youth at the Monument to the Spaniards in the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires.
During a vigil with more than 50,000 young people at the Estadio Nacional, the pontiff broke into tears while listening to the crowd sing “Alma Misionera,” a hymn composed in 1981 by Mónica de la Canal, Diario El Día de La Plata stated.
Victims of the Sodalicio who requested meetings with the pope during his stay in Lima have not received a response, Página|12 reported.
