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According to AnewZ, Pope Leo XIV arrived in Peru on Wednesday. The visit by the first Peruvian-born leader of the Catholic Church began after a programme in Argentina drew a record 6 million people over three days.
The pope smiled as he stepped off the plane in the port city of Callao. Children holding flowers and singing greeted him. President Keiko Fujimori met Leo XIV at the airport, while people gathered by a fence around the runway took pictures on their phones. Some children wore T-shirts bearing the words “The pope is coming home.”
Peru is the final and, personally, most significant stop on Leo XIV’s 12-day tour of three South American countries, which began in Uruguay last week. Born in Chicago, the pope holds U.S. and Peruvian citizenship.
Leo XIV served as a missionary in Peru for about 20 years before becoming bishop of Chiclayo in the country’s north. He was elected pope last year. The visit, which runs until Nov. 17, includes Lima, Chiclayo, Cusco and Pucallpa. The pope will spend three days in Chiclayo, where he is expected to meet old friends.
Peru prepares for the visit
Peru has made preparations for the visit. A 14-metre statue of Leo XIV with his arms outstretched has been erected in a seaside park in Callao. In Lima, vendors are selling T-shirts and souvenirs featuring the pope, while inmates at the country’s largest women’s prison have sewn velvet dolls bearing his likeness.
People waving flags cheered in Lima’s main square as a large screen showed the pope’s plane landing. Camila Serazo, 27, who came to the square with her family and baby, said: “People felt more connected to him after learning that the pope is a Peruvian citizen.”
From the airport, Leo XIV is scheduled to travel to the presidential palace in Lima to meet Fujimori, who took office after an election held this year. The vote was marred by allegations of fraud and delays in the ballot count.
The visit will also test how far the pope is prepared to involve himself in the politics of a country whose citizenship he holds. Fujimori is the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, who led Peru from 1990 to 2000, was later jailed for human rights abuses and died in 2024.
When Alberto Fujimori was pardoned in 2017, Leo XIV, then Bishop Robert Prevost, criticised the decision. He said the former president needed to apologise personally to his victims for Peru to achieve genuine reconciliation.
During her election campaign, Fujimori gave considerable attention to her father’s political legacy and promised tough security measures to combat rising crime. “There is no other country where the pope is following domestic politics so closely,” said Martin Cassinelli, an analyst at the Atlantic Council.
Millions attend services in Argentina
Leo XIV concluded his visit to Argentina on Wednesday with a Mass attended by 2 million people outside the Shrine of Our Lady of Luján, regarded as the country’s most important Catholic site.
It was the third consecutive day the pope had held an event drawing at least 1 million people. A Mass in Buenos Aires on Monday attracted 2.5 million, the largest crowd at a single event during his 18-month pontificate.
The pope also visited one of Argentina’s largest prisons, embracing inmates and urging guards to treat detainees humanely. President Javier Milei, a fierce critic of Leo XIV’s predecessor, Francis, was unable to hide his emotions as he bid farewell to the pope.
The tour, described as the pope’s busiest foreign trip in decades, comes less than a month after Leo XIV underwent surgery on Oct. 13 to remove part of his right lung. The procedure followed a diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma. His doctors said the operation was successful and that no further treatment would be needed.
