Pope Leo XIV Returns to His Former Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, as About 500,000 Attend Mass
CHICLAYO — Pope Leo XIV returned on November 13 to Chiclayo, the northern Peruvian city where he served as bishop from 2015 to 2023. He presided at Mass on an open plain at Pampas de Pimentel outside the city. According to the Holy See Press Office bulletin, local authorities confirmed that about one million people lined the streets to welcome him and about 500,000 faithful attended the Mass. In his homily, the Pope said proclaiming Christ is a crucial task and that all Christians are missionary disciples.
The Press Office said the Pope first greeted the faithful impromptu from the balcony of the Apostolic Nunciature in Lima that morning, left the Nunciature at 7:00 a.m., departed Lima at 7:57 a.m. aboard a LATAM Airlines A320 bound for Chiclayo, and landed at 9:06 a.m. at the Teniente Coronel Pedro Ruiz Gallo Air Base, where local leaders welcomed him. He then travelled to the Mass site and began the celebration at 10:56 a.m.; the Bishop of Chiclayo, Edinson Edgardo Farfán Córdova, addressed words of thanks at the end of the Mass.
Later in the day, the Pope visited the Catholic University of Saint Toribius of Mogrovejo, telling students and faculty that universities must foster an encounter between faith and reason, and between religion and science, through dialogue and inquiry in service of the common good, so that the search for truth becomes service to humanity. He also met representatives of the local Church in Chiclayo, reminding the faithful that Baptism makes their primary identity always that of sons and daughters of God, and he paid a brief private visit to the St. Oscar Romero Chapel.
Vatican News also reported that during his time in Peru the Pope met for over an hour with six abuse survivors, reflecting with them on how to foster a change in mindset through listening to victims.
Peru is the final stop of the Pope's November 6 to 17 apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. Born in Chicago as Robert Francis Prevost, the Pope holds Peruvian citizenship, spent many years as a missionary in Peru, became Bishop of Chiclayo in 2015, and was called back to Rome in 2023.
Related: Pope Leo XIV Holds Prayer Vigil with Young People in Lima, About 60,000 in National Stadium
Source: Vatican News
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：秘鲁奇克拉约圣玛利亚主教座堂（资料图），教宗良十四世曾任该教区主教。Marco Chuica Rodríguez 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Santa María Cathedral in Chiclayo, Peru (file photo), in the diocese Pope Leo XIV once led as bishop. By Marco Chuica Rodríguez, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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- 2026-11-13Pope Leo XIV Returns to His Former Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, as About 500,000 Attend MassThis story
